US urges China to step up to WTO plate

BEIJING – The United States has asked Beijing to help rescue deadlocked WTO trade talks, the top US trade official said yesterday, courting China as a potential ally whose economy has soared due to trade liberalisation.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in Beijing that she had pressed China to help rescue the Doha round of global trade talks, which was suspended last month after key countries again failed to agree on how to cut tariffs and barriers. China, she said, has benefited from joining the WTO in 2001 and now needed to show its commitment to trade liberalisation by speaking up, rather than deferring to India and Brazil, the most vocal developing countries.”China has as much of an interest in an open world trading system as any country in the world,” she told reporters.”My purpose here is to urge China to reflect that in its actions and rhetoric.”The World Trade Organisation launched the Doha round nearly five years ago with the aim of boosting trade and fighting poverty in poor countries by lowering trade barriers.They are named after the Qatari capital where they started.But the tortuous talks have broken down, with the European Union blaming the United States for not offering enough in farm goods tariff cuts.Deep tariff cuts proposed later by the United States were not matched by other countries.Schwab, named as US Trade Representative in April, has been attending a series of trade meetings in Asia, Brazil and Australia, seeking to shore up dwindling hopes for a breakthrough.She left Beijing yesterday.”If the countries that really have a stake in the outcome of the Doha round would speak up and really articulate that, that would help in terms of the negotiating dynamic,” she said.China is the world’s third-largest trading economy, behind the United States and European Union.In 2005 China’s trade grew to US$1,42 trillion, up 23,2 per cent from a year earlier and nearly triple the figure in 2001, according to Chinese statistics.But while Beijing has promoted itself as a “bridge” between developed and poor countries, it has avoided entanglement in the complex negotiations, reluctant to make new trade concessions.When China joined the WTO, it accepted tariff cuts on farm goods that were deeper than many countries are now proposing.China’s tariffs on farm goods now average about 15 per cent.Schwab said she had pressed Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai on Monday to consider China’s interests as a “trade powerhouse” and be willing to go beyond earlier commitments by opening its markets further.”China needs to be prepared to contribute accordingly, and that means market access,” she said.”There is plenty of time for China to do significantly more than was in its accession agreement”.Bo told Schwab that China would “actively push for reviving the Doha negotiations,” the Commerce Ministry said on its Web site.But the statement made no mention of any specific initiatives from China.Schwab also pressed Bo on trade complaints about intellectual property and market access.She said a potential rise of economic nationalism in China could undercut Beijing’s implementation of WTO promises.Nampa-ReutersChina, she said, has benefited from joining the WTO in 2001 and now needed to show its commitment to trade liberalisation by speaking up, rather than deferring to India and Brazil, the most vocal developing countries.”China has as much of an interest in an open world trading system as any country in the world,” she told reporters.”My purpose here is to urge China to reflect that in its actions and rhetoric.”The World Trade Organisation launched the Doha round nearly five years ago with the aim of boosting trade and fighting poverty in poor countries by lowering trade barriers.They are named after the Qatari capital where they started.But the tortuous talks have broken down, with the European Union blaming the United States for not offering enough in farm goods tariff cuts.Deep tariff cuts proposed later by the United States were not matched by other countries.Schwab, named as US Trade Representative in April, has been attending a series of trade meetings in Asia, Brazil and Australia, seeking to shore up dwindling hopes for a breakthrough.She left Beijing yesterday.”If the countries that really have a stake in the outcome of the Doha round would speak up and really articulate that, that would help in terms of the negotiating dynamic,” she said.China is the world’s third-largest trading economy, behind the United States and European Union.In 2005 China’s trade grew to US$1,42 trillion, up 23,2 per cent from a year earlier and nearly triple the figure in 2001, according to Chinese statistics.But while Beijing has promoted itself as a “bridge” between developed and poor countries, it has avoided entanglement in the complex negotiations, reluctant to make new trade concessions.When China joined the WTO, it accepted tariff cuts on farm goods that were deeper than many countries are now proposing.China’s tariffs on farm goods now average about 15 per cent.Schwab said she had pressed Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai on Monday to consider China’s interests as a “trade powerhouse” and be willing to go beyond earlier commitments by opening its markets further.”China needs to be prepared to contribute accordingly, and that means market access,” she said.”There is plenty of time for China to do significantly more than was in its accession agreement”.Bo told Schwab that China would “actively push for reviving the Doha negotiations,” the Commerce Ministry said on its Web site.But the statement made no mention of any specific initiatives from China.Schwab also pressed Bo on trade complaints about intellectual property and market access.She said a potential rise of economic nationalism in China could undercut Beijing’s implementation of WTO promises.Nampa-Reuters