Can the WTO get to the next stage of Global Trade: With the Doha Round stalled and the U.S. turning to bilateral agreements, opportunity to further liberalize markets is at risk

摘要

Three-dimensional chess. That's how Assistant United States Trade Representative Dorothy Dwoskin describes multilateral trade negotiations,. And in the current round of World Trade Organization negotiations, Dwoskin and her colleagues at the USTR have struggled mightily to keep the chess match from becoming a draw. This is no ordinary game: it has 148 players, who have coalesced into three main factions: the U.S., Europe and a group of developing nations led by India and Brazil. Now, despite a bold offer by the United States to slash agricultural subsidies-which is what emerging nations insist is the quid pro quo for free trade to expand to the next level-many analysts are pessimistic that the latest WTO round will result in a major advance for global free trade.