US seeks India's help on WTO talks

The United States is committed to move the multilateral trade talks forward this year but India, China and Brazil need to contribute to a positive outcome of the World Trade Organisation negotiations, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has said.

Schwab said the advanced developing countries had earned benefits from a global trading system and it was time they gave back to the world.

"It is an opportunity particularly for the advanced developing countries, the Chinas, the Brazils, the Indias of this world, to contribute to as well as gain from a multilateral trading system that has had a such a positive impact on their development," the Schwab said in a speech posted on USTR Web site.

By some estimates, in the next five years 50 per cent of the global economic growth will come from countries such as China, India, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and the ASEAN bloc.

"It is a matter of giving back and helping to generate global economic growth," Schwab said.

While America's "most ambitious effort," in terms of trade negotiations was to reach an agreement with 153 members of the WTO, it suffered a setback in July when ministers' talks ended in a deadlock.

Differences, mainly  between India and the US over protection to farmers of the developing countries against import surges, resulted in a stalemate in the Geneva talks.

The US is betting on pushing its exports through a slew of free trade agreements and expanding the global market from the American products through a multilateral trade deal under the Doha Round of negotiations.

However, negotiations for a multilateral deal have missed several deadlines since end of 2004 when they were meant to be concluded.