Doha Round

The Issue:
The Doha Round of global trade negotiations, halted in June 2007 after the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed to break a stalemate over agriculture (See AAFA Press Release).  While WTO members and officials have made positive statements as to their willingness to overcome difficulties and the importance of concluding the round, little substantive work seems to have been done to bridge underlying differences.  Developed countries are shielding their agricultural sectors too much while developing countries are less interested in opening up their industrial goods markets.  As with all Doha Round collapses, it is unclear if this is indeed the final collapse or not.  It certainly means that the current effort – to see if a deal can be built around agreement between EU, US, India and Brazil – has come to a halt. 

Once they are brought to a successful conclusion, the talks could lead to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers worldwide to U.S.-made and U.S.-branded apparel, footwear and textiles.  In contrast, some groups, as part of the talks, have advocated new safeguards on textiles and clothing to restrain China, India, and other large producers in a post-quota environment. 
 

AAFA on the Issue:
AAFA supports the successful completion of the Doha round as long as it substantially reduces and/or eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers in key markets worldwide.  AAFA remains opposed to efforts that would use these talks to create new trade barriers or safeguards, particularly with respect to textiles and clothing.

The Latest News:

12.16.08
Despite many experts viewing the completion of a successful global trade round as a bulwark against the slowing global economy and growing protectionism worldwide, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy announced December 12 that he canceled the proposed December 13-15 Ministerial in what has become yet another failed last-ditch attempt to revive the Doha Round of global trade talks. If the talks had succeeded, according to the just released draft of the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiating text, global apparel and footwear tariffs would have received so-called "formula" cuts. However, the draft text would have slowed the pace of the formula cuts for apparel due to developing country concerns over "preference erosion." In one bright spot, the latest version of the NAMA text does include an AAFA-supported proposal to eliminate arbitrary and excessive labeling requirements worldwide for footwear, apparel and travel goods.

12.09.08
With many viewing the completion of a successful global trade round as a bulwark against the slowing global economy, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy has proposed a Ministerial December 13-15 in yet another last-ditch attempt to revive the Doha Round of global trade talks. While global apparel and footwear tariffs would be slated to receive so-called "formula" cuts in the released draft of the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiating text, apparel tariff reductions would be slowed due to concerns over "preference erosion." In one bright spot, the latest version of the NAMA text does include an AAFA-supported proposal to eliminate arbitrary and excessive labeling requirements worldwide for footwear, apparel and travel goods.

11.17.08
Christopher A. Padilla, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, delivered a speech November 13 in Washington, DC to a meeting of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) highlighting the lessons learned by the outgoing Bush administration on trade and how the incoming Obama administration can use those lessons as President Obama develops his trade agenda. Padilla's remarks touched on a number of trade issues important to the apparel and footwear industries, including , the Doha global trade round, preferences and free trade agreements.
 

07.21.08
Trade Ministers from over three dozen countries meet this week in Geneva in what many consider a final attempt to break the current deadlock in the ongoing Doha Round of global trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO). In preparation for this week’s so-called “mini-ministerial,” the WTO released revised texts on agricultural and non-agricultural market access (NAMA). The revised draft NAMA text shows little improvement in opening up markets worldwide to US-made and US-branded apparel and footwear products, but it does contain important AAFA-supported measures on labeling and export restrictions

5.27.08
REVISED BLUEPRINTS ISSUED FOR DOHA ROUND TRADE TALKS The chairs of two key negotiating groups released revised papers on May 19 outlining a potential deal for the liberalization of agricultural and industrial trade as part of the nearly 7-year old Doha Round of multilateral trade talks. The papers revise formulas for cutting agriculture and non-agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other non-tariff barriers. Although intended to further negotiations and propel the round toward a compromise that could lead to an agreement by the year’s end, the papers may have had the reverse effect. Many business groups and governments immediately criticized the proposals as not doing enough to advance or protect their own interests. Some stated that the revised papers were a step backward. U.S. business groups in particular were deeply critical that the industrial goods paper seemed to create more flexibilities (thereby allowing countries to forego liberalization) than previous versions. Many U.S. groups, including AAFA, believe that a key to achieving an ambitious result is to ensure that all countries, including the United States and trading partners in the developing world, undertake liberalization.

12.17.07
AAFA joined 40 other major agricultural, manufacturing and services organizations and companies in sending a letter December 12 to the Bush administration expressing their opposition to the first draft of the Rules text released at the end of November as part of the ongoing Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. The letter urges the Bush administration to seek the necessary and required clarifications and improvements in the Rules text that will benefit US farmers, US manufacturers, US service providers, US workers, US consumers and the US economy.

07.30.07
Facing a possible presidential veto and calling into question the US commitment to a successful conclusion of the ongoing Doha Round of global trade negotiations, the US House of Representatives on July 27 approved legislation (HR 2419) authorizing a new five year farm bill on a largely partisan vote of 231 to 191. The bill, which has a price tag of almost $286 billion, would preserve the existing system of subsidies for commercial farmers and add billions of dollars for conservation, nutrition and new agricultural sectors. Despite a rash of World Trade Organization (WTO) cases challenging the legality of the US cotton program, the bill would extend and expand the current cotton subsidies, including the so-called "cotton fee" charged to US importers of cotton apparel. Further, the sheer size of the subsidies included in the legislation further jeopardizes global trade talks already stalled, in large part by the United States' refusal to reduce its agricultural subsidies.

07.23.07
In a last ditch attempt to save the faltering Doha Round of global trade talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) on July 17 issued draft negotiating texts on the crucial non-agricultural market access (NAMA) and agriculture aspects of the trade negotiations. The draft texts attempt to forge a compromise between the competing interests of the 150 WTO member countries, particularly among the so-called G-4 countries -- the United States, the European Union (EU), Brazil and India.

Under the proposed NAMA text, which includes apparel and footwear, all non-agricultural tariffs on imports entering the United States and other developed countries would be reduced to a maximum of 8 or 9 percent over a period of five years while developing country tariff rates would be reduced to a maximum of 19-23 percent over a period of nine years. Regrettably, the draft text would allow developing countries to either exempt five percent of their imports outright from the tariff reductions or subject 10 percent of their imports to smaller tariff cuts. Least-developed countries are exempted from the tariff reductions altogether. Least-developed countries, however, would still receive duty-free, quota-free access to the United States and other developed country markets for 97 percent of their products. Finally, in order to alleviate so-called "preference-erosion" for US and European trade preference countries (like Africa and the Caribbean), US and European tariffs on imports of certain products (almost all apparel products) would be reduced over a seven-year period, instead of five years.

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