Top GATT, U.S. Officials Meet About Logjam : Commerce: No breakthrough is reported in talks aimed at resolving an American-European dispute that threatens a global trade pact.

World trade chief Arthur Dunkel, on a mission to salvage six years of work on new global trade rules, sought U.S. help Monday in reaching an agreement. But there were no signs of a breakthrough.

Dunkel, director general of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, met for 2 1/2 hours with U.S. Trade Representative Carla Anderson Hills. Then U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Madigan joined their discussions.

“They were very good meetings,” Hills said. But she declined to say whether they had cleared the road to a trade agreement.

Disagreements between the United States and European Community have stalled action on a global pact. U.S.-EC disputes on other agricultural issues have stymied efforts further.

During a news conference, Madigan said the United States was not ready to make more concessions in a dispute over EC oil seed subsidies that could flare into a transatlantic trade war.

“There’s nothing more that we could propose on the oil seeds issue beyond what we have proposed,” Madigan said. “Of course hope springs eternal in the breast of everyone involved in the talks.”

Madigan also said he did not know what kind of an oil seeds offer EC officials will bring when they arrive in Washington for talks this week, but added, “I hope it’s something new.”

EC officials are set to meet with Hills and Madigan this week in a last-ditch effort to resolve the crisis.

Global trade talks have been deadlocked for months because of the U.S.-EC disagreement over removal of farm subsidies and trade barriers.

The clash on world trade has been sharpened by the long-standing U.S. challenge to EC subsidies for production of soybeans and other oil seeds. U.S. officials plan to impose punitive tariffs on $300 million worth of EC white wine, vegetable oil and wheat gluten beginning Dec. 5 because the EC is not acting quickly enough to reform its program.

In Brussels, farm ministers from the 11 EC states unanimously reaffirmed their support for Farm Commissioner Ray MacSharry’s efforts to solve the oil seeds dispute.

“There was a very clear agreement by the ministers that what they want to see is a successful conclusion in the GATT round,” British Farm Minister John Gummer said. “We have asked the (European) commission to go out and make a success of the negotiations.”

Although the two issues are separate, the oil seeds dispute is widely regarded as an obstacle to wrapping up the negotiations on a new global trade agreement, which also covers such topics as intellectual property and services.

Analysts estimate that the new rules could add $200 billion a year to the world economy.

When he arrived in Washington for the talks, Dunkel said, “I think there is now a real political will (to reach an agreement), and I hope this time it will work.”