>From the Financial Times from the NYT web sites. Poorer nations to soften trade stance By Guy de Jonquières in London and Frances Williams in Geneva
Published: July 14, 2004 A last-minute diplomatic offensive by leading trade powers appeared last night to have beaten back moves by developing countries to adopt a hardline negotiating stance that threatened efforts to revive the Doha world trade round. Top trade officials from the US, the European Union, Brazil and India urged a meeting of ministers from the Group of 90 developing countries in Mauritius to back the drive to agree by the end of this month a negotiating framework for the round. Advertisement Their pleas led G90 ministers to set about re-drafting their planned communiqué, so as to drop or tone down earlier demands that other World Trade Organisation members had told them were unacceptable. "The talks have produced greater realism about what is at stake. Key developing countries are looking at the issues much more pragmatically," one participant at the meeting said. Pascal Lamy, the EU trade commissioner, said the talks had produced some common ground and the G90 had indicated greater flexibility on some important issues. Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative, said shortly before leaving Mauritius that he detected "points of convergence", though the G90's mood was still fluid. The discussions appeared to have reduced the chances of a potentially explosive confrontation over complaints by African cotton-growing countries that they were being seriously harmed by US subsidies. A senior diplomat from Benin, representing the African cotton producers, told Reuters they might be prepared to negotiate on cotton as part of an overall agriculture package, rather than press for separate negotiations - a demand the US opposes. Mr Lamy sought to defuse controversy over his proposal to exempt G90 members from opening their markets in the round, saying it was only a "political concept" designed to reassure developing countries that they were not expected to make big concessions. However, Celso Amorim, Brazil's foreign minister, told the ministers there was "no free ride and no free round - there is always a price to pay". Nonetheless, he suggested more advanced developing countries might offer special concessions to poorer ones. Trade officials said efforts by Mr Zoellick and Mr Lamy to persuade G90 ministers that negotiations on a WTO agreement to facilitate trade would be in poorer countries' interest also appeared to have won support. The US, EU and Brazilian officials said efforts by WTO members to assemble by the end of this month a package for cutting tariffs and subsidies in agricultural and industrial trade were "inching along". But they stressed that important issues remained to be settled. Members will seek to agree a negotiating framework by the end of the month. Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
