Wednesday, June 2, 2010

EU Commissioner Wants U.S. Action on Trade

(The Wall Street Journal)

Karel De Gucht, the European Union’s trade commissioner, challenged the U.S. Wednesday to break an impasse in the current round of global trade talks.

“Americans need to say what they want,” said Mr. De Gucht, who visited Washington last month.

The nine-year-old round of tariff and subsidy-cutting talks—the so-called Doha Round—is stalled mostly because the Obama administration is handcuffed by a strong protectionist movement in the U.S., an assessment shared by international trade officials and U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk. “It’s a deal the Bush administration refused. How can you expect a Democratic administration without [special authority from Congress] to do this deal?” Mr. De Gucht said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Doha “needs a top-up” and it is up the U.S. to come up with new ideas, he said. Mr. De Gucht suggested a tariff exemption on environmental goods, hardly a controversial notion, and language that would make it easier for service companies such as law firms and consultancies to do work in foreign countries. Read more here.