WTO chief holds talks with US officials, lawmakers

WASHINGTON — WTO chief Pascal Lamy was in Washington Wednesday for talks with US officials and lawmakers amid an uphill effort to wrap up the long-running Doha Round of global trade talks by this year.Lamy met with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a Treasury spokesman told AFP, but declined to provide details about their talks.And, according to the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, Lamy is scheduled to hold separate talks with President Barack Obama's top trade official Ron Kirk and US lawmakers.The Doha Round of negotiations for a trade liberalization deal began in 2001 but has been dogged by disagreements, including on how much the United States and the European Union should reduce aid to their farmers and the extent to which developing countries such as India and China should lower tariffs.Lamy had suggested that March was probably the last moment when any breakthrough in talks could allow a deal to be sealed by the end of 2010 as requested by leaders of the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations.The Doha Round had focused on dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations, by aiming for a deal that would cut agriculture subsidies and tariffs on industrial goods.Deadlines to conclude the talks have been repeatedly missed.Lamy had said last month that he was against inviting ministers to a planned stock-taking meeting in Geneva in March, saying it was "too early" and would be "best undertaken by senior officials at this stage."Kirk, the US trade representative, said on Tuesday that Washington was working to achieve "a balanced and ambitious conclusion to the Doha Round that promotes meaningful market access for all nations and enhances economic development among the world?s poorest nations."He had earlier said, in a report to Congress on Obama's 2010 trade policy agenda, that nations such as China, India and Brazil should clarify their market-access measures in a bid to break the Doha deadlock.While the United States was forthcoming about its market-opening commitments, it was unsure how

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