BELGIUM-BRUSSELS- The United States is committed to concluding the Doha round of world trade talks and President Barack Obama has been extremely engaged in the negotiations, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Friday.
"My sense is that the overall stance of the U.S. is the right one. We are not there yet and I understand the U.S. needs some time to weigh up what is on the table," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told Reuters in an interview.
"But I must say that the U.S. president was extremely engaged on this issue," he said of talks with Obama at Thursday’s summit of the G20 industrial and emerging economies in London .
The summit agreed to try to kickstart trade liberalization talks at G8’s next meeting in July. Obama backed the move after calls from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The major emerging nations, notably India , Brazil , China and South Africa , will also be invited to the G8 summit in Italy .
"These are good occasions, notably because the emerging countries are around the table to push and maybe try and crack a few nuts. We will use all these occasions to heat up the political pressure," Lamy said.
DOABLE DEAL
Lamy said the so-called "modalities" of a deal to open world trade -- the precursor to a full agreement -- were "doable" before the end of the year and he could call a key ministerial meeting once Washington has indicated its position.
"I do not exclude calling a ministerial before or after the summer break," he said.
"I will do this as soon as I make a judgment that having ministers around the table is what we need to move forward. I am not saying when it will take place ... but the sooner the better."
The WTO chief said there "is a bigger sense of urgency" in reaching a Doha deal, estimated to be worth at least $150 billion for the world economy, since he put the talks on ice last December.
"There is more political energy, more unity, and there is a bigger sense of urgency since December," Lamy said.
"In December trade was a cluster, now trade is among the one, or two or three or four legs of a collective response to the financial crisis."
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Tuesday world trade should decline by 13.2 percent in 2009.
"We have gathered new energy, new momentum. As the crisis worsens, the necessity to keep trade open and the dangers of protectionism trigger a sort of policy response which will help us move forward," Lamy added.
TRADE FINANCE
Earlier in an interview with Reuters Financial Television, Lamy welcomed a consensus at the G20 summit to avoid protectionism and an agreement to support global trade flows with 250 billion euros ($334 billion) of finance measures.
"It is a very positive response," Lamy said. "Implementation now is something we will be watching," he added of guarantees and other measures aimed at encouraging importers and exporters to help reverse a sharp drop in trade.
Trade finance has dried up as a result of the credit crunch as banks become more cautious about exposure to new risks.
"The important thing is that there is, as in other areas of the G20 work yesterday, convergence, unanimity on the view that in order to respond to this crisis, trade must remain open."