M A I N   N E W S

USA talks tough on trade terms
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 9
Washington today sent a strong message that India may end up on the losing side of the global trade framework if it continued to oppose a fresh round of trade negotiations.

Addressing top industry captains here, US Trade Representative Robert B Zoellick in a frank and forthright statement observed that in the current scenario, the USA represents about 25 per cent of the world economy. This statement indirectly echoed the anti-globalisation rhetoric about a unilateral global agenda controlled largely by American interests.

“Active and constructive participation in a new trading round would provide India with the opportunity to amplify its voice and help shape the rules of globalisation. Withdrawal will leave the field to others,” Ambassador Zoellick, who is the first Cabinet rank official of the Bush Administration to visit India, told Indian industry leaders.

Mr Zoellick’s rather strong message comes a day after he announced a $ 540-million preferential trade access to 42 Indian items under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

The sooner India supports new negotiations, the more influential it will be, he underlined, observing that “a new round would be a win-win situation for India”.

Without actually saying so, the USTR indicated that the fresh round of trade negotiations may have an impact on the future course of Indo-US strategic calculus.

“You will not be surprised if I observed that the emerging strategic relationship between our two great democracies will not be resilient and growing if we fail to draw our economies closer together,” he noted in his address at the meeting organised jointly by the three apex chambers — CII, Assocham and FICCI.

While the European Union, the USA and Japan are firm on a new round of negotiations at the forthcoming ministerial conference of the WTO at Doha, India and some other developing countries are reiterating the concerns pertaining to the implementation of the agreements arrived at the Uruguay round of negotiations.

The USTR today argued that a global trade framework characterised by openness and low domestic barriers would be beneficial for all parties concerned.

“I am hopeful that India — a leader in the developing world — will work with us. The developing world has the most to gain from a new round, and the most to lose without one,” he said.

On issues pertaining to the implementation of the obligations of the Uruguay round, he said, “The US is working with other developed nations to address legitimate implementation concerns in coming months and has already offered adjustments.”

Commenting on the structural reforms process in India, he observed that greater deregulation was required and pointed out that India’s tariffs and regulatory barriers remained high. Besides, “India’s arteries of infrastructure are clogged”, he noted.

The Minister of External Affairs, Mr Jaswant Singh, at his meeting with Mr Zoellick reiterated India’s concern about the implementation issues of the Uruguay round.