"We continue to have high hopes for a meaningful and robust outcome to these
talks and we are urging other countries to seek the same. The U.S. proposal
delivers on the promise of Doha, unfortunately other proposals thus far lack the
necessary ambition.
Market access is the key that will unlock the negotiations and ambitious
reform is essential if this round is to live up to its name as a development
round. Without deep tariff cuts that increase trade flows, there will be neither
income growth nor new opportunities for farmers, particularly for those in
developing countries. Tariff cuts cannot be undermined by open-ended loopholes
for sensitive and special products.
There has been a lot of talk about the G20 proposal. It proposes deep cuts in
trade-distorting domestic support, but lacks sufficient market access to achieve
the goals of this development round. It is also vulnerable to loopholes that
will result in less rather than more market access. The U.S. stands ready to
roll-up our sleeves and negotiate, but we need a balanced proposal on the table.
As yet, none has been offered, but we are not prepared to give up trying to work
with our trading partners to develop one.
The developing countries are hurt most by trade barriers. The U.S. proposal
knocks down barriers and builds real opportunity for economic growth in
deserving countries. We call on our colleagues in other developed and advanced
developing countries to be true champions of the less fortunate by matching our
ambitious proposal." ###
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