By: Romulo T. Luib BusinessWorld Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will see a softened US stance on labor and environment standards proposed for inclusion in the trade rules once the body meets to launch a new round of talks later in the year.
A senior official of the US Trade Representative's (USTR) Office told visiting Southeast Asian journalists in Washington D.C. recently that the Bush administration has "no strong and firm position" on such issues relating to the agenda for the new round.
"The US is more open-minded about how these issues can be dealt with," the official said in a briefing. "There is a variety of ways to deal with that and some (proposals) are not ripe for negotiation."
The new stance may come as a relief to many developing countries in WTO whose resistance to the inclusion of new trade standards partly led to the failure of the body to launch a new round of trade talks in 1999.
But the scheduled WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar in November this year is likely to be postponed "for security reasons" arising from the recent terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., said Bill Center, president of Seattle-based Washington Council on International Trade.
Nonetheless, Mr. Center said not a few businessmen agree with the decision of the US government to depart from its previous stance in pushing for new standards that "should not be used as barriers to trade."
It will be recalled that developing nations opposed the introduction of new disciplines in the WTO on account of their difficulties in complying with existing standards.
Many argued that putting in place a new set of rules could lessen their chances of selling their goods in the world market.
"We don't believe that the WTO is the venue for all of those things," Mr. Center said, adding the Council has not been too focused on the new round. The Council was established by the private sector to serve as "an advocate for positive trade policy that works."
On condition of anonymity, a USTR official said that the US government is more particular about "what (Doha agenda) would be acceptable to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)."
A primary concern at the moment is "to ensure an agenda that is satisfactory" to all sides, the official stressed, adding "we have more flexibility than most other countries that have previously pushed for new trade standards in the WTO.
"This new (US) administration is more flexible. We're more in a listening mode to try to find out where the consensus will be," the official said.
Although there have been questions whether the WTO ministerial meeting slated in November this year will push through, the USTR official said the US administration is particular about "getting a launch" this year.
Aside from the importance it places on getting China into the WTO, the official said the Bush administration has also recognized the need to "re-engage as soon as possible with ASEAN" which as a group stands as the fourth largest trading partner of the US.:
