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Bad tempers flare, threatening WTO deal
2008-07-28
GENEVA (AFP) - A global trade pact was within reach on Monday but bad tempers flared between the United States, China and India, threatening to shatter the fragile basis for a deal on day eight of gruelling talks. These big trading nations exchanged harsh words at a morning meeting, while other key players sought to calm nerves, saying that a deal was too close at hand to throw away the past week's hard-won gains. But France warned from Paris that it would not sign up to proposals for a deal as they stood because they showed no progress on "essential" matters. In a meeting with all 153 member states, the United States accused India and China of threatening to shatter a fragile deal reached by key parties in Geneva over the week, according to a statement obtained by AFP. "All their invocations of development during the past years ring hollow when these major players threaten the development benefits already on the table that are absolutely vital to the vast majority of the membership," the US deputy head at the Geneva mission to the WTO, David Shark, said. The accusations were met with sharp retort from the Chinese, diplomats attending the meeting said. India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath also bluntly rebutted the US charge. "We are not holding up the talks," he told AFP on the sidelines of Monday morning's meeting. "Who's holding up this round I think are the large developed countries... who are looking for commercial interests and enhancing prosperity rather than looking for content which reduces poverty." Meanwhile, other ministers from key nations sought to calm nerves, calling for focus to be kept on achieving a deal. Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said that countries had been very patient and that "we can understand a degree of frustration". "It's normal in any negotiations so we've got to overcome the frustrations and not lose sight of the objectives," he told AFP, adding that the state members were "so close" to a deal that "we need to try and conclude it." Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim also tried to play peacemaker, saying: "The main problem is to keep the nerves down." Optimism had grown after a perceived breakthrough on Friday in deadlocked talks on farming and industrial products, followed by further encouraging signs from key players after discussions on the services sector. But as negotiators began picking through the finer details on Sunday, resistance toughened, with emerging nations saying that a the draft on the table remained unbalanced. Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Monday: "We'll see what happens today. A number of major developing countries and groupings still have major reservations on parts of the text." Pangestu, who leads the G33 group of developing countries said that parts of the draft did not reflect "a development round yet". She said: "We still feel there's an imbalance... there has to be a level of compromise." Delegates leaving a late night meeting on Sunday said several sticking points remained unresolved. The United States also then began pointing its finger at emerging economies for hampering progress. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said after Sunday's talks that there was a path "for a successful outcome on Friday night", and that while it was not perfect, it was delicately balanced, with a strong endorsement. "Unfortunately a few emerging markets have decided that somehow they want to re-balance it in favour of one or another issue," she said. "That was a very delicate balance that was struck. You pull one thread, it threatens to unravel."
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