Inside US Trade | Vol. 19, No. 24
European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy last week ruled out a limited market access round in the World Trade Organization, saying it would not provide sufficient trade offs to sell concessions to European constituencies.
"There is the view somewhere that we should have a market access round -- it just won't float," Lamy told an Economic Strategy Institute forum June 7. "Lowering tariffs is fine but in order to do that you need to come back home with a balanced package."
In talks in Geneva, the U.S. has signaled reluctance to negotiations on new rules on investment, competition and the environment, three EU priorities and has shown a preference for a round dealing with services, agriculture, industrial tariffs, and transparency in government procurement, clarification of dispute settlement rules (Inside U.S. Trade, May 25, p. 1).
Lamy cited one example of how new rules and market access could balance each other out in a round, saying "for instance, I can sell lowering tariffs on agriculture if I get something on the protection of geographic indications."
Lamy said a multilateral round was the preferred method to liberalize trade and expressed concern that the Free Trade Area of the Americas could lead to standards that excluded outside players. New rules on investment, intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and other regulations should not lock Latin American countries into standards that exclude the EU, and the EU should not erect similar barriers in its negotiations for a free trade pact with southern cone countries, he said.
However, Lamy also downplayed the immediate prospects for the FTAA, calling the Quebec summit of hemispheric heads of state "an extremely successful public relations operation."
The negotiations just started and are years from completions, Lamy said.
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