THE BLAME GAME

By RAY FLEMING EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said it was all the fault of the Americans. The French trade minister, Christine Legarde, talked about US ”intransigence”. Development aid organisations said that both the European Union and the United States were to blame. The US delegate Susan Schwab accused the EU, India and Japan of not doing their bit. The blame game followed what may prove to be a final breakdown of the so–called Doha round of trade talks which have been in process for the best part of five years. Following the G8 summit in St Petersburg, at which world leaders had urged that a settlement should be reached by mid–August, the latest unproductive meeting was a serious let–down. As at many previous meetings the key issues were reductions in agricultural subsidies by rich countries on one side and willingness by leading developing countries, for instance Brazil and India, to commit themselves to respect intellectual property rights and to give easier access to service industries on the other. Disagreement between the EU and the US on farm subsidies was particularly bitter. Mr Mandelson said that the US was “unwilling to accept, or indeed to acknowledge, the flexibility being shown by others in the room”. According to reports Susan Schwab angrily said that offers by other countries appeared to be getting “lighter and lighter”. But while the EU and US indulged their oratory, the developing countries saw a vital opportunity of gaining access to export markets disappear.