Trade round gets new impetus from Davos talks

29 Jan '07

3 min read

“We are now in the endgame. Either way, this is going to end in success or failure in the next two to three months,” said Peter Mandelson, Commissioner, Trade, European Commission, Brussels. “It would be a terrible misjudgement if we allow what we have now to slip away.”

What has to be done in the coming weeks, said Susan Schwab, US Trade Representative, is to achieve a breakthrough that can help convince Congress as well as US farmers and other economic actors that there is enough in an overall Round package for them. “It has to be more than a lowest-common- denominator deal that doesn't generate trade flows,” she insisted.

Celso Amorim, Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil said he is ready to carry on talking immediately to get details of a final accord. “If Pascal (Lamy) wants to lock us in a room and leave us until we have the numbers, I am ready to do that today or tomorrow,” he said.

Akira Amari, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, commented: “If other people are ready to show their cards, we are ready to show our cards too.”

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