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Geneva WTO talks end without result
The WTO talks in Geneva collapsed on Monday as the G6 failed to agree on freeing trade in agricultural goods.
The WTO talks in Geneva collapsed on Monday as the G6 -- the US, EU, India, Australia, Brazil and Japan -- failed to agree on freeing trade in agricultural goods.
"Talks have failed. All negotiations have been suspended," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told the Hindustan Times from Geneva. He said it would take "anywhere from months to years" to restart the negotiations. This translates into an inordinate delay in the opening up of markets of developed countries for goods from developing nations like India.
The last-ditch efforts to save the Doha Round of negotiations collapsed when the US refused to reduce its farm subsidies even as it asked the developing countries to open their markets to its heavily subsidised goods.
"We can't accept the opening of our markets for subsidised agricultural products," said Kamal Nath. He said the developed countries should break the deadlock and blamed the US for refusing to make cuts in farm subsidies.
Both the EU and the US spend over $440 billion annually as subsidies for their farmers, which makes it financially unviable for developing countries to export goods to their markets. While the EU softened its stand on subsidies, the US decided not to slash its domestic support.
Brazil, which along with India joined the G6 as representatives of developing nations, called it a major setback. The US, however, put the blame on developing nations for not agreeing to reduce tariff on agricultural imports.
In the absence of a WTO agreement, countries will have to depend on regional trade pacts and bilateral arrangements. For India, there is Asean, G20 and the fledgling Safta.
