Brazil faces tough decisions on Doha: Kirk

The chance of reaching a deal this year in long-running world trade talks could slip away unless major emerging economies like Brazil muster the political courage to open their markets, the top U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.

“I think it is very much in question whether there is a willingness to engage, to move toward a middle ground that allows us to go forward,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said at the Reuters Latin American Summit.

The Doha round of world trade talks was launched in late 2001 with the goal of helping poor countries prosper through increased exports.

It has been plagued by sharp disagreements over how much the United States and the European Union should cut their farm subsidies and tariffs in exchange for big developing countries like Brazil, India and China allowing more imported goods and services.

World leaders at the Group of 20 summit last November in Seoul called on negotiators to step their activity in the hopes of getting a deal by the end of this year.

“To do that there is going to have to be some movement, and some movement pretty quickly over the next several weeks” because of the lack of progress so far, Kirk said.

The United States is under pressure in the negotiations to make deep cuts in its domestic farm subsidies, but feels that it is not getting adequate new export opportunities from major developing countries in return.

‘MORE COMPELLING’

“We think that nothing could be more timely, especially to the poorest economies in the world, to try to bridge our differences and create the ambition to make this a more compelling package,” Kirk said.

WTO members have already agreed that least-developed countries would not have to make additional market openings, so the discussions are focused on what steps the group’s biggest economies are willing to make.

President Barack Obama, on his recent visit to Brazil, had “very candid discussions” with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff about how the United States and Brazil could work together to make the round a reality, Kirk said.

“Each country would have to make some very, very tough and difficult decisions. While we know how challenging some of those would be in Brazil, it’s no less challenging in our economy with a 9 percent unemployment rate,” Kirk said.

However, Kirk said the history of past trade rounds provides evidence the United States is willing to make politically unpopular cuts to bring a deal to a close.

“At the end of the day, we have stepped up and shown our willingness to make a contribution over and above what many Americans think should be expected of us,” Kirk said.

The world has changed dramatically since the talks began in 2001, and countries such as Brazil, India and China that have benefited over the past decade from increased exports have a responsibility now to open their markets more, he said.