>Doha was described by Robert Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative, as >having "removed the stain of Seattle". Seattle stands as a historical >watershed, through which citizens mobilised democratically to respond to >free-trade treaties and agendas of corporate globalisation.
1. Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 27.07.2002 Der Bagdad-Plan: Wie die USA und der Irak sich auf einen möglichen Krieg vorbereiten Die amerikanische Gewissheit über den Sinn des Irak-Krieges verfliegt und Präsident Bush bleibt die Antwort auf viele Fragen schuldig Von Stefan Kornelius [...] Die Operation Saddam lebt von einer langen Vorgeschichte in der amerikanischen Innenpolitik und von ein paar Schlüsselfiguren, die das Thema seit dem Golfkrieg von George Bush, dem Älteren, wachhalten. Zu ihnen gehört Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld und sein Stellvertreter Paul Wolfowitz, aber auch der Handelsbeauftragte Robert Zoellick oder die hochrangigen Außenamtspolitiker John Bolton und Richard Armitage. Dieser Gruppe gelang es mit Hilfe der neokonservativen Erbengemeinschaft Ronald Reagans, das Thema nach dem 11. September auf die Agenda zu setzen und seitdem immer mehr ins Zentrum der Außenpolitik zu rücken. Der Präsident zeigte seine Empfänglichkeit für die Argumente zuerst während der ersten Europareise im November, als er den Anti-Terror-Krieg ausweitete auf die Bekämpfung von Massenvernichtungswaffen. full: http://szarchiv.diz-muenchen.de/REGIS_A14300400;internal&action=body.action 2. http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/econ/wto/ http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/econ/wto/02072526.htm : 25 July 2002 Transcript: U.S. Unveils Proposal to Reshape Agricultural Trade Envisions elimination of tariffs and subsidies The United States is proposing to make global trade in agricultural goods decisively more fair and free by slashing tariffs and eliminating trade-distorting supports, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says. During a July 25 news briefing Zoellick said the U.S. proposal, which will be presented at the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Geneva the week of July 28, will benefit U.S. farmers and consumers, the world's poorest nations and, eventually, the global economy. The comprehensive package, he said, is based on the objective of leveling the playing field for all countries, working towards the eventual elimination of all barriers to agricultural trade and growing the markets for world agricultural trade. "If other countries agree with us that agricultural tariffs and subsidies are too high then we urge them to join us at the negotiating table," Zoellick said. "We are ready to cut if others step up to the plate too." Outlining the U.S. plan in more detail, USTR Chief Agriculture Negotiator Allen Johnson said the U.S. proposal builds on the momentum created at the November WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, and moves the process forward in two stages. [...] AMBASSADOR ZOELLICK: I'm trying to think of some hydro response. [Laughter.] AMBASSADOR ZOELLICK: My mind is still working about drowning on that one. As I mentioned, I was pleased to get the report. Some of my other colleagues were up quite late last night until about 2 a.m. that Chairman Baucus and Chairman Thomas were working hard to resolve these issues. There is a wire story that Chairman Thomas said today that he is going to try his best to try to get the process done today. I don't know whether that is possible or not, but our message is, frankly, that this day is a good example of why the TPA discussion is not theory. This is reality. We have deadlines that we created in Doha. Doha reversed the failure in Seattle that everybody thought was a disaster for our economy and the world economy. So we did something good at Doha, but we also put some real fight into it, unlike some of the Uruguay Round, as Al mentioned. [...] 3. Europe, Japan reject US WTO proposal By Shihoko Goto UPI Senior Business Correspondent From the Business & Economics Desk Published 7/26/2002 3:30 PM WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- Opposition to the United States' stance on global agricultural policy is already surfacing, as trade ministers from the world's richest nations gather in Nara, western Japan, to discuss it over the weekend. "We are still examining the U.S. proposals ... however my initial impression (is) that they are unbalanced," Franz Fischler, European Union farm commissioner, said Friday. Japanese Trade Minister Tsutomu Takebe also lashed out against the United States, arguing that its proposal "goes against the ministerial agreement reached at the launch of the WTO (World Trade Organization)." The Bush administration Thursday unveiled its own proposals to improve trade relations in agriculture -- calling for all countries, including the United States, to reduce tariffs and subsidies and aiming for zero government support within the next five years. Trade Promotion Authority, which was approved by the Senate and House leaders earlier Friday, and a U.S. farm bill are the other two pieces of a Bush administration plan to reform the global agricultural trade regime. Within the WTO framework, tariffs averaged 12 percent for the United States, 62 percent globally and 31 percent in the European Union, said Robert Zoellick, U.S. trade representative. The Bush administration proposes levels be dropped to 5 percent for the United States, 9 percent for the European Union, and 15 percent worldwide. U.S. officials also call for capping so-called trade distorting subsidies, which act as an incentive to boost production in an already saturated market. Under their plan, the United States would reduce payment to $10 billion from $19 billion. The European Union's ceiling would be pushed down to $12 billion from $60 billion, and the Japanese would lower their subsidies to $4 billion from $33 billion. Countries "with the highest distortions will have to move significantly ... as is only fair," Zoellick said. Such calls from the United States, however, have come under heavy criticism from other World Trade Organization members. Industrialized and developed nations point to the Bush administration passage of a farm bill, which will provide $190 billion, or 67 percent above current levels over the next 10 years, to subsidize the nation's farmers, particularly grain and cotton growers. Moreover, trade member countries have protested that all other countries would suffer disproportionately under the U.S. proposal. "They require a great deal more effort from other countries than from the U.S.," the EU's Fischler said. "I do not see these proposals as a basis for a compromise. I am disappointed by the lack of any concern for the interests of the developing countries. Nor do we see an awareness of the need to address legitimate non-trade concerns," he added. The latest discussions are the first ministerial meetings since WTO talks in November in Qatar. At that time, it was decided that March 2003 would be the final deadline to come up with a broad framework to restructure the global agricultural trade system. full: http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20020726-023644-3783r
