After ten years of negotations in the Doha Round of trade talks, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the talks seem to be stalled and possibly moving slower than ever. Frustrations over the lack of results have resurfaced between the Obama Administration and World Bank President -- and former U.S. Trade Representative in the Bush Administration -- Robert Zoellick.
At a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva, Zoellick criticized the U.S. and others for the lack of progress in the Doha Round of Trade Talks. Specifically, he criticized the President for a lack of leadership in the trade negotiations and utilizing a defensive stance that has delayed trade talks.
According to a July 18 Bloomberg News item:
At a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva, Zoellick criticized the U.S. and others for the lack of progress in the Doha Round of Trade Talks. Specifically, he criticized the President for a lack of leadership in the trade negotiations and utilizing a defensive stance that has delayed trade talks.
According to a July 18 Bloomberg News item:
Speaking at the World Trade Organization in Geneva yesterday, Zoellick said trade negotiators from "rich" and developing countries fell into "tactical ploys", wasting the chance of an ambitious agreement. He questioned what the U.S. gained with its negotiating tactics, including resistance to cuts in farm subsidies which are now bound to be happen because of efforts to narrow the budget deficit.The same article noted that Zoellick stated that the defensive posture adopted by the current administration began "late in the Bush Administration, even though President Bush pushed for a deal, so the fault is bipartisan.
In a related Washington Post article, Zoellick is quoted as saying that the U.S. is "dumbing down" Doha trade talks.
But, criticism over the stalled talks was directed, at least indirectly, back at Zoellick. According to the same Washington Post article,
The Obama Administration indirectly shifted the blame for Doha back on Zoellick, saying that the talks were stymied because of how they were "initially structured" under a framework Zoellick helped develop when he worked for Bush.For related news items, click here and here.
That structure has also been criticized by Zoellick's successor, former U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who in a recent Foreign Affairs article said the talks were "doomed." Administration officials said the framework in particular gives now-powerful developing countries such as China too much flexibility to keep parts of their economy closed.
"The Obama Administration has been the chief proponent of greater ambition in the Doha Round," said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Unfortunately, in part because of the manner in which the negotiations were initially structured, there has been little appetite for that sort of ambition by other major trading partners."
Posted 7/20/2011
