U.S. Trade Negotiator Goes to Geneva in Hope of Reviving Talks on GATT
Top U.S. trade negotiator Carla Anderson Hills, hoping to revive stalled negotiations on freeing world trade, arrived today in Geneva, where a group of major farm exporting nations accused the European Community of endangering the talks.
Hills said at Geneva airport that the EC’s repeated failure to agree on proposals for farm subsidy cuts is tainting the entire 105-nation Uruguay Round of talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
The goal of the Uruguay Round of GATT talks is to open markets for everything from textiles to spices, and generally set the stage for international commerce into the next century.
Hills appealed to European Community ministers meeting in Brussels today to agree--during their seventh attempt--on proposals for reforming farm trade.
As Hills spoke, ministers of the Cairns Group of advanced and developing farm exporting countries debated how to press the EC into coming forward with a feasible plan.
In a statement at the start of a one-day ministerial meeting, the Cairns Group said failure by Brussels to meet an Oct. 15 deadline has put at risk the entire package of negotiations.
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