Indian Minister Frustrates West At Trade Talks
Kamal Nath Invokes 'Millions of Poor' In Criticizing U.S.
By JOHN W. MILLER
July 25, 2008; Page A6
GENEVA -- This week's summit talks at the World Trade Organization aimed at securing a new global trade deal are turning into a bad-tempered marathon, with one man emerging as the pivotal figure: India's commerce and industry minister, Kamal Nath.
In negotiations that broke up at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, after running to 3:30 a.m. that morning, and that will resume Friday, Mr. Nath has come to speak for all the world's developing countries, from the tiger economies of Asia to the poorest in Africa. His role as the key to closing a deal in the so-called Doha Round of trade talks reflects the changing balance of power at the WTO, and in the global economy as a whole, trade officials say.
In an interview with a small group of reporters Thursday, Mr. Nath said poorer countries need to keep the right to use tariffs to protect nascent industries, like India's fledgling car sector, and key food products. At the same time, he is demanding more cuts in U.S. farm subsidies.
U.S. President George W. Bush asked Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to compromise on trade in a phone call Thursday, another sign of the Asian nation's growing importance, U.S. officials said.
In an attempt to resolve the standoff, WTO chief Pascal Lamy is holding meetings for only seven negotiators from the 30-some attendees at the summit -- the U.S., the European Union, China, Brazil, Australia, Japan and India. The EU's 27 nations negotiate trade as one.
The result on Wednesday was a 12-hour session that EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called "some of the most difficult and confrontational negotiations" of his four-year term. The reason, according to European, U.S. and Brazilian officials: Mr. Nath. "He just sat there and said 'No' for 12 straight hours," a trade official said.
"Success or failure of the Doha Round may very well lie in the hands of Kamal Nath alone," said Christopher Wenk, a director of policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who is in Geneva. The talks were close to collapsing Thursday night, but still could last into next week.
Much of the 61-year-old veteran Indian politician's influence at the WTO lies in the promise of his country's economy. India's total imports have grown to $217 billion from $57 billion since the Doha Round began in 2001. The EU and U.S. business community says that in a slowing global economy, it needs access to India's growing market of a billion consumers.
The other reason for Mr. Nath's prominence is diplomatic. India recently joined the informal quartet of countries, with the U.S., the EU and Brazil, that lead trade negotiations. Previously, the U.S., the EU, Japan and Canada led discussions.
The world's biggest exporter, China, chooses to keep a low profile in trade talks.
Mr. Nath is the only member of the four leading trade powers who belongs to both key groupings of developing countries: the so-called G-20 group of emerging economies, like South Africa, Argentina and Brazil, and the G-33, made up of developing nations seeking to protect their agricultural markets, including South Korea and Senegal.
On Monday, the EU improved its offer on agriculture tariff cuts to 60% from 54%. The next day, the U.S. said it would cap trade-distorting farm subsidies at $15 billion instead of $16.4 billion. Mr. Nath and Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim, however, said the U.S. and Europe need to do more to fulfill the promise of alleviating global poverty that they made when they opened the Doha Round after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Doha "was meant to decrease poverty, not enhance prosperity," Mr. Nath said in the interview Thursday.
"In 2001, there was more idealism," said Adolfo Urso, Italy's top trade official at the WTO, who was at the round's inception. "Now, there are clear winners and losers, and that has fueled protectionism."
EU and U.S. diplomats say they must exact concessions from emerging economies to defuse domestic worries about trade.
That won't work for Mr. Nath. "I'm not willing to negotiate the livelihood of millions of poor people for the benefit of noncompetitive European industries," he said. "The future of automobiles is not in Detroit or Stuttgart, it's in Asia."
Mr. Nath denied he wants Doha to fail. "I'm very keen on the success of the round," he said. "The global economic outlook demands it. But not at the expense of millions of poor people." |
