WTO News
High Food Prices
and the Doha Development Agenda (USDA
Radio News; 07/21/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
—
U.S. Doha Delegation Making
Rounds With WTO Member Nations (USDA
Radio News; 07/21/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Schafer On Progress in The Doha
Round (USDA Radio News; 07/18/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Mini-Ministerial in Geneva (July 2008)
U.S. And WTO
Members Reviewing Revised Doha Round
Texts (USDA Radio News; 07/11/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Revised Agricultural Modalities Texts
(07/10/08)
Revised Ag Negotiating Text To Be
Presented Soon To WTO (USDA Radio News; 07/08/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
July A Critical
Month For Doha Round Progress (USDA
Radio News; 07/02/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
WTO Cotton Ruling Remains In Place (USDA Radio News;
06/03/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Available Soon: Revised World
Trade Organization Draft Ag Modalities
Text (USDA Radio News; 05/14/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
More on the Upcoming Revised Draft of
WTO Negotiations (USDA Radio News;
05/14/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Doha Round Deal and Impacts to High
Food Prices (05/07/08 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Falconer Agricultural Text (February 2008)
U.S. Submits Notification of Domestic Agricultural Support Payments to
World Trade Organization (10/04/07)
United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, made the
following statement regarding APEC Leaders statement on the Doha Development
Round (U.S. Trade Representative; 09/09/07)
Brazil, India Lost Opportunity to Advance Global Trade Talks (U.S.
Department of State; 07/18/07)
Revised Agricultural Modalities (07/17/07; .pdf)
On July 17, 2007, Ambassador Crawford Falconer, chairperson of the
agriculture negotiations, circulated his 45-page revised draft “modalities”
containing formulas for cutting tariffs and trade-distorting subsidies, and
related provisions.
Joint Statement from Ambassador Schwab and
Secretary Johanns on the Doha Round
(06/21/07)
Trade Deal Setback Will Not Deter U.S. from
Pursuing Pact, Officials Say (U.S.
Department of State; 06/21/06)
Wide
Gap When It Comes to Farm Trade and WTO
Members' Positions (USDA Radio
News; 06/07/07 -
real,
mp3)
Agriculture Is Always at Trade Talk
Table (USDA Radio News; 06/07/07;
real,
mp3)
WTO
Member Discussions Continue (USDA Radio
News; 06/07/07;
real,
mp3)
U.S.
Farmers and Position on Trade (USDA
Radio News; 06/07/07;
real,
mp3)
U.S. Proposes To Address “Zeroing” in
World Trade Organization Negotiations (U.S.
Trade Representative; 06/04/07)
U.S. Proposes Strengthened Subsidy Rules
to World Trade Organization (U.S.
Trade Representative; 06/04/07)
United States Requests WTO Panel in Challenge
of India’s Duties on Wine and Spirits and Other
Imports from the United States (U.S.
Trade Representative; 05/25/07)
Johanns Announces Joe Glauber's Detail to Special DOHA Agricultural Envoy
at USTR (05/11/07)
Schwab Praises Chief Agriculture Negotiator Crowder’s Service, Announces
Appointment of Special Doha Agricultural Envoy (U.S. Trade
Representative; 05/11/07)
WTO Members Set Year-End Deadline to Reach New Deal
Meeting in New Delhi, trade representatives from six key member nations of
the World Trade Organization have proposed a new year-end deadline to
complete negotiations on a treaty to liberalize global trade.
Transcript of
news conference (04/12/07; .pdf)
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database (Economic
Research Service; 10/04/06)
Under Secretary Penn on the Suspension of the WTO Trade Talks (USDA Radio
News; 08/15/06 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Transcript of Press Availability With Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, USTR
and Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture - WTO Headquarters (07/24/06)
—
Statement of Ambassador Susan C. Schwab at the WTO Heads of Delegation
Meeting (07/24/06)
—
WTO Talks Are Suspended (USDA Radio News; 07/24/06 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
U.S. Presses To Keep Ambition High In Doha Round (07/01/06)
Joint Statement by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on WTO Trade Negotiations (06/30/06)
Transcript Of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns And U.S. Trade
Representative, Ambassador Susan Schwab At A Press Conference On The WTO
Development Agenda (06/27/06)
Transcript of Press Briefing with Deputy Assistant USTR Jason
Hafemeister on the Doha Development Agenda (.pdf; 06/16/06)
(U.S. Department of State;
06/16/06)
U.S. Welcomes APEC Trade Ministers' Commitment
to WTO Doha Round (U.S.
Department of State; 06/02/06)
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, U.S. Trade
Representative Rob Portman and Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative Susan Schwab Report on WTO
Negotiations During Press Briefing in Geneva
(05/03/06)
Johanns Attends WTO Negotiations At G-6 Meeting In United Kingdom And
Travels To Poland And Germany (03/10/06)
WTO Update
(USDA Radio; 03/03/06 -
real,
mp3,
wave)
Transcript of Joint Media Availability by USTR Portman and EU
Commissioner Mandelson (.pdf)
Discuss WTO negotiations (02/22/06)
Sixth WTO
Ministerial in Hong Kong (December 2005)
U.S. Proposal, October 2005
U.S. Offers Bold Plan on Agriculture to
Jumpstart Doha Round (10/10/05)
—
Facts on U.S. Proposal for Bold Reform in Global
Agricultural Trade (.pdf)
—
Analysis by U.S. Department of State
(includes proposal text)
—
USTR Statement on European Union WTO Counter Proposal (10/28/05)
WTO Framework Agreement
, 2004
USDA Praises U.S. Negotiating Team on the
World Trade
Organization Framework
(08/01/04)
Negotiators in Geneva were able to reach agreement on a framework that
will enable the Doha Round talks to proceed to a conclusion. (08/01/04)
-- From USTR (all .PDF | require
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
--
Press Release
(08/01/04) --
Press Conference Statement
(08/01/04)
--
Fact Sheet
(07/31/04) --
Agreement: Final Text
(07/31/04)
The WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an
independent international organization headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland that sets and maintains the rules of global trade .
Representatives from over 145 member countries use the WTO framework to
negotiate trade agreements, adjudicate trade disputes and review national
trade policies. By having a standard set of consistent and enforceable
ground rules, international trade can prosper without facing barriers such
as excessive tariffs, unfair regulations and other obstacles. Countries
participating in this freer global trade environment help expand the world
economy and increase their own citizens’ level of prosperity.
The Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) has a
brief
description of the various functions of the WTO.
The WTO and U.S. Agriculture
Year after year, America’s agricultural
producers consistently produce high-quality, competitively priced
agricultural products. In 2004 alone, the U.S. exported over $62.4 billion
of agricultural products, producing hundreds of thousands of jobs of
good-paying jobs throughout rural and urban America.
As impressive as this trade sounds, it
could be expanded if many of the trade barriers that have been eliminated
for other goods under the WTO are also eliminated for agriculture.
The Doha Round and
Beyond - U.S. Proposal, 2002
Until a few years ago, the WTO and its
predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), have
focused mostly on manufactured goods. After the 2001 round of negotiations
in Doha, Qatar, WTO members agreed to begin talks to lower tariffs and
other barriers to free and fair agricultural trade. The United States believes this
is a historic opportunity to not only help its farmers, ranchers and
growers export more, but to improve the lives of producers and consumers
in the developing world and around the globe.
The Harbinson Draft,
2003
As
part of the timeframe for agricultural negotiations outlined in the Doha
negotiations, the chairman of the WTO committee on agricultural
negotiations, Ambassador Stewart Harbinson of Hong Kong, produced a
document that aimed to bridge the gaps in the negotiation positions of
various countries.
Fifth WTO
Ministerial in Cancún, Mexico (September 2003)
The
Cancún Ministerial, the latest
meeting of the World Trade Organization, concluded on September 14 without
consensus. (For the U.S. response, see
Op-Ed
by U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick: "America Will
Not Wait for the Won't-Do Countries," Financial Times
[09/22/03])