US hopes leaders' summit will hasten Doha round deal

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US hopes leaders' summit will hasten Doha round deal
Editor: Bruce Meng
7 Nov 2008

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 - The Bush administration hopes a meeting of developed and developing country leaders on Nov. 15 can help bring the long-running Doha round to a conclusion soon, a top U.S. trade official said on Thursday.

"I expect there will be some expression of support for the global trading system and the value and benefits of concluding the Doha negotiations as soon as possible," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau said at a discussion about a Bush administration trade initiative in the Pacific region.

The main topic of the U.S.-hosted meeting is the global financial crisis. But top Australian and Brazilian trade officials said on Wednesday they hoped leaders would instruct Doha round negotiators to strike an agreement on core agriculture, manufacturing and services issues before U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.

That would relieve Obama of "very difficult choices at the start of his government," Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told Reuters in Geneva, the headquarters of the World Trade Organization.

Obama has expressed support for the Doha round, but it is unclear how much priority he would place on concluding an agreement, especially if a number of vexing issues remain unresolved when he's sworn in on Jan. 20.

WTO members agreed in the capital city of Qatar on Nov. 14, 2001 to launch a new round of world trade talks with the goal of finishing by January 2005, but those negotiations have been plagued with problems ever since.

Negotiators came close to a breakthrough this past July in Geneva, but that effort collapsed because of a sharp disagreement between the United States on one side and India and China on the other over an agricultural trade issue.

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy has indicated he could call trade ministers back to Geneva for another try this year if there appears to be a good chance of success.

But there is a also major stumbling block in the manufacturing portion of the Doha negotiations, with India and China resisting U.S. demands that a critical mass of countries sign up for agreements to reduce tariffs in a number of industrial sectors to zero.

"The road to the Doha round runs through Beijing and New Delhi," said Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, who has predicted the Doha talks could last until 2011.

The Group of 20 leaders meeting on Nov. 15 will bring together key players in the WTO talks, including the United States, the European Union, China, India and Brazil.

Although trade ministers are not coming to Washington for the meeting, the United States and other countries eager to advance the Doha round are working together to craft a strong statement, a Washington-based trade diplomat said.

However, it is unclear how specific any instructions the leaders give negotiators would be or whether the statement would set a target for reaching a breakthrough through this year, the trade diplomat said.

 

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What will Obama do?
Editor: Eve Guo
5 Nov 2008

Nov 5 - U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, hoping to boost a struggling economy, has proposed a stimulus package that some experts estimate could cost as much as $190 billion.

At the same time, the United States is facing record budget deficits of at least $500 billion. Some analysts say the deficit could go as high as $1 trillion next year.

Obama has said he would:

--Enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies to give taxpayers an energy rebate.

--Give businesses a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each new full-time employee hired in the United States over the next two years.

--Allow small business to immediately write off up to $250,000 in spending for new equipment and property through the end of 2009. The stimulus package enacted earlier this year provided for the $250,000 investment expensing limit only through the end of this year.

--Eliminate capital gains taxes on investments in small businesses.

--Make $25 billion immediately available for the construction and repair of roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure.

--Provide $25 billion to states to help them cope with the economic downturn without having to raise property taxes or cut vital services.

--Make $50 billion in loan guarantees available and keep other options open to help U.S. automobile manufacturers retool and develop a new generation of fuel-efficient cars. Congress has made $25 billion available.

--Implement a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners making good faith efforts to pay their mortgage debt.

--Extend unemployment insurance for long-term jobless workers who have exhausted their benefits, and temporarily suspend taxes on those benefits.

--Temporarily allow penalty-free withdrawals of 15 percent from tax-preferred retirement accounts up to $10,000.

--Suspend rules requiring retirees to begin withdrawing from retirement accounts six months after they reach the age of 70.

--Increase home heating cost aid.

--Instruct the secretaries of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to use their existing authority to more aggressively modify the terms of mortgages.

--Reform the bankruptcy code to assist homeowners and remove legal impediments to encouraging more mortgage restructuring.

--In the longer term, Obama would roll back some of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. He proposed a permanent tax cut of $500 for most individual workers and $1,000 for families. He also would eliminate taxes for seniors making up to $50,000.

--To help jump-start the economy, the tax cuts would be expedited through refunds based on 2007 tax returns. He would also provide a 10 percent refundable tax credit for mortgage interest to taxpayers who do not itemize their returns.

--On trade, Obama has promised to review the North American Free Trade Agreement and use trade agreements to advance good labor and environmental standards around the world. He has also promised to end tax breaks that encourage companies to shift U.S. jobs overseas. (Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by David Alexander and Eric Walsh)