US pushes farm trade with India

22 November 2006

Mumbai: The United States is pushing India to restart the stalled world trade talks and show more flexibility in important issues by removing protections on farm subsidy, opening market access to US and European firms while carrying forward their trade negotiations at WTO.

Top US department of agriculture official Mike Johanns, who is the of USDA secretary, is currently in India for talks with government officials and trade negotiators in a bid to achieve a breakthrough on the stalled Doha Round negotiations.

Johanns has urged India to yield ground on "special products." Putting goods on a list of special products sheltered from lower duties not only blocks most US farm exports, it also sets a worrying precedent for other countries, Johanns said.

The issue has been a sticking point between the US and India in talks on the Doha Round, which have been suspended since July. Johanns said meetings with officials of the Indian commerce ministry centred on the beleaguered round, but the officials failed to reach "a major breakthrough."

"We talked about a number of alternatives and approaches. I don''t think we agreed on any one," Johanns said.

India and other developing nations like Brazil and China are demanding rich nations curtail generous farm subsidies.