News & Insights

Washington, DC – In a letter today to United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Bill Reinsch urged Zoellick to exert leadership in reenergizing Doha trade negotiations in the lead up to next week’s General Council meeting.  As the letter states, “The upcoming General Council meeting on December 15 presents an important opportunity to put the Doha Round back on track toward a timely and successful conclusion. Even if the negotiations cannot be completed next year, it is imperative that the necessary work be undertaken to lay the basis for their successful conclusion.” 

The Reinsch letter to Zoellick lays out specific measures the NFTC sees as imperative to a successful conclusion of the Doha Round and reaffirms the NFTC’s view that an ambitious final Doha outcome is in the best interest of all nations.  The letter concludes that “the credibility and relevance of the WTO as a primary driver of trade liberalization and rules-based economic integration and openness are at risk” if the United States and other nations fail to reach agreement on these important issues.

Full text of the letter follows:

December 9, 2003                                                                                          

The Honorable Robert Zoellick

United States Trade Representative

600 17^th Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C.  20508

Dear Ambassador Zoellick:

I am writing to express the strong support of the NFTC and its members for restarting the Doha Agenda negotiations as soon as possible. We firmly believe that failure to reengage the negotiating process in the coming weeks would be a significant set back for the United States and the entire WTO membership. 

The upcoming General Council meeting on December 15 presents an important opportunity to put the Doha Round back on track toward a timely and successful conclusion. Even if the negotiations cannot be completed next year, it is imperative that the necessary work be undertaken to lay the basis for their successful conclusion.

 In our view, one of the most important goals should be to get back to basics by focusing on what has historically been the number one objective of the WTO/GATT trading system — multilateral rules-based trade liberalization as a way to generate economic stability, growth and prosperity for all nations.  This is clearly a vital goal worth pursuing.

We also believe that progress was achieved in Cancun.  The final draft proposed by Conference Chair Derbez contained several positive elements which should serve as a basis for moving toward a final framework agreement at the scheduled December 15 General Council meeting.  The recent APEC Ministerial Declaration recognizes the merits of this approach.

The number one challenge remains ironing out an ambitious framework for agriculture. One way forward could be based on melding the best liberalizing elements of the Derbez text with those of the proposal that was tabled in Cancun by 21 countries.  The NFTC continues to support the elimination of all trade-distorting export and domestic support subsidies, including cotton subsidies, and achieving commercially meaningful market access in developed and developing countries. These key objectives should be incorporated into a final framework text. 

Aiming for ambitious market access results for industrial goods and services is essential to a successful outcome of this negotiation and would be a powerful engine for economic growth and poverty reduction.  Moreover, achieving a high level of liberalization in goods and services would create positive leverage for an ambitious outcome on agriculture.  There is no reason why this round shouldn’t be ambitious and every reason why it should be. 

We agree with you that the Doha Round is a “once in a generation opportunity.”  With the exception of least developed countries, the Doha Round should seize this rare opportunity by phasing out tariffs for non-agricultural goods by a date certain and removing significant non-tariff barriers to trade.   This would complete the unfinished business of the GATT begun more than five decades ago.

On the Singapore issues, it is important to recognize the progress that was made in Cancun by the EU’s withdrawal of investment and competition policy, which would remove a major stumbling block to the negotiations.  At the same time, we continue to view consensus within reach on negotiations on rules to facilitate trade and rules to fight favoritism and corruption in government purchasing.  Agreement on both of these issues would provide widespread economic benefits to taxpayers and governments through lower costs and improved efficiency.

For success at the end of the day, greater clarity must be achieved with respect to the treatment of developing countries.  Advanced and middle income developing countries have a responsibility for stewardship of the system from which they reap so much benefit and meaningful engagement and leadership from these countries is critical to the negotiations.  At the same time, we support providing lenient treatment for least developed countries.  The primary focus should be to equip least developed countries with the knowledge and tools necessary to implement their existing WTO commitments, concomitant with recognition on their part that the WTO is not a UN aid-granting agency. 

The NFTC has been a staunch supporter of the WTO and a bold outcome to the Doha Round.  For American business, the question remains what it has been since the start of the negotiation – can the WTO rise to the challenges of proliferating regional trade agreements and increasing globalization through an ambitious and timely round of multilateral trade liberalization and rule-setting?  Absent major progress in this direction, we believe the credibility and relevance of the WTO as a primary driver of trade liberalization and rules-based economic integration and openness are at risk.  The recent results of the FTAA ministerial meeting in Miami underscore the challenge before WTO Members.  

A vibrant, predictable multilateral trading system is in our vital national interest.  Every economy stands to gain from an ambitious win-win outcome to the Doha Agenda, and we urge your leadership in renewing the momentum for the negotiations. 

Sincerely,

                                                                                                            William A. Reinsch

                                                                                                            President

The National Foreign Trade Council is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 400 member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.