Chamber Welcomes Deal in Hong Kong Trade Talks

WASHINGTON — With cautious optimism, United States Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue welcomed the outcome of the World Trade Organization meetings in Hong Kong, where trade ministers agreed on several modest steps to advance the global trade negotiations known as the Doha Development Agenda.

"Although many challenges are still ahead, this meeting was a step forward in advancing global trade," said Donohue, who traveled to Hong Kong to meet with trade ministers and business leaders from the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Egypt and other major trading nations. "Key trade negotiators have created a bridge to the next phase.

"It was the tireless U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman who kept the talks from breaking down," Donohue said. "Against great odds, he built a bridge to carry 150 countries from the land of 'no' to the land of 'maybe.'

"Portman defended the interests of American business and agriculture while delivering a development package to help the poorest countries in the world," he added, noting the agreement to give the least developed countries unprecedented access to the industrialized countries' markets was essential to secure an agreement and underscore the development focus of the Doha Round.

"To move from 'maybe' to 'yes,' Europe will have to do more on the issue of agricultural market access, and the developing world will have to do more on access for manufactured goods and services," said Donohue. "The U.S. is one of the few countries with high ambitions in all three areas — agriculture, manufacturing, and services." The Chamber's Doha objectives are summarized in a position paper available online [/international/0512wto_priorities.htm].

"On average, tariffs abroad on manufactured goods are 10 times higher than ours," added Donohue, "and agricultural tariffs overseas are five times higher. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how important new market access is for U.S. business and agriculture in the 21st century."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses of every size, sector and region.

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See the U.S. Chamber's WTO Sixth Ministerial news and resources Web page.

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