International Law

Trade Talks Collapse ? A Footnote to a Depressing Day

By Stan

Wasn’t sure what to blog about today. The news has been depressing as hell, and many of my fellow bloggers have chosen to discuss one of the numerous "China’s economy is heading downward" articles in the major papers.

This story in the NYT caught my attention, not because I was surprised that the Doha Round was officially dead (I think we knew that many months ago) but that it was one more reason to be a pessimist.

Several reasons why this is a real bummer:

“It is a massive blow to confidence in the global economy,” said Peter Power, spokesman for the European Commission. “The confidence shot in the arm that we needed badly will not now happen.”

After nine consecutive days of high-level talks, discussions reached an impasse when the United States, India and China refused to compromise over measures to protect farmers in developing countries from greater liberalization of trade.

Supporters of the so-called Doha round of talks, which began in 2001, say a deal would have been a bulwark against protectionist sentiments that are likely to spread as economic growth falters in much of the world.

The failure also delivers a blow to the credibility of the World Trade Organization, which sets and enforces the rules of international commerce. It could set back efforts to work out other multilateral agreements, including those intended to reduce the threat of global warming.

I’m a big free trader. I’ve seen public sentiment on this topic go steadily south since 1999’s "populist uprising" in Seattle and kept waiting for Doha to give the Western industrialized nations the chance to make good on their promises regarding agricultural subsidies. So I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited some more.

Now, just when we need that "shot in the arm" economically, as we are uncomfortably staring at a nasty recessionary period, we get confirmation that the global trading regime is stuck in neutral. What’s worse, without that forward momentum, that protectionist sentiment we have been seeing for the past few years may now really take root.

Not the information I needed today.

Full post as published by China Hearsay on October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).