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WASHINGTON: The United States is unhappy with the current framework of the Doha Round of negotiations to forge a global trade accord, a key lawmaker said Wednesday after talks with WTO chief Pascal Lamy.
But the long-running talks should continue in a bid to seek a breakthrough, Sander Levin, the Democratic chairman of the powerful House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, told AFP after talks between lawmakers and Lamy.
"I think it is important to get moving, acknowledging that the present framework is not satisfactory, and that is true of the House and the Senate, and the public and private sectors. There is no basic division," Levin said.
He said he believed other countries were also unhappy with the framework and negotiations should center on breaking the deadlock.
"In a word, there are important unresolved issues. In that respect, the bilateral discussions need to go on and, I hope, will be pushed by Mr Lamy," said Levin, who chairs the powerful panel with authority over tax and trade issues.
Lamy, who declined to speak to reporters after the talks with lawmakers, also met with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and President Barack Obama's top trade envoy, Ron Kirk, the US trade representative.
No details of the discussions were provided by officials who confirmed the meetings with the finance and trade chiefs.
Lamy was on a "low-profile trip where, as part of his broad consultations with WTO members, he has sought US views on what should be the next steps in the Doha Round," his spokesman Keith Rockwell told AFP.
"We are at an important juncture in the negotiations and obviously the US perspective on the way forward is very important," he said.
The Doha Round of negotiations for a trade liberalization deal began in 2001 but has been dogged by disagreements, including on how much the United States and the European Union should reduce aid to their farmers and the extent to which developing countries such as India and China should lower tariffs.
Lamy had suggested that March was probably the last moment when any breakthrough in talks could allow a deal to be sealed by the end of 2010 as requested by leaders of the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations.
The Doha Round had focused on dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations, by aiming for a deal that would cut agriculture subsidies and tariffs on industrial goods.
Deadlines to conclude the talks have been repeatedly missed.
Lamy had said last month that he was against inviting ministers to a planned stock-taking meeting in Geneva in March, saying it was "too early" and would be "best undertaken by senior officials at this stage."
Kirk, the US trade representative, said on Tuesday that Washington was working to achieve "a balanced and ambitious conclusion to the Doha Round that promotes meaningful market access for all nations and enhances economic development among the world's poorest nations."
He had earlier said, in a report to Congress on Obama's 2010 trade policy agenda, that nations such as China, India and Brazil should clarify their market-access measures in a bid to break the Doha deadlock.
While the United States was forthcoming about its market-opening commitments, it was unsure how much Americans would benefit from reciprocal steps by the advanced developing nations, he said.
Kirk said the United States remained convinced that a Doha success could be achieved if all major economies were willing to come to the negotiating table.
Kirk warned that "a weak agreement" would ultimately also weaken the WTO, the global trade watchdog.
- AFP/sc
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