Talks between World Trade Organization (WTO) members about lowering global barriers to trade could still be fruitful, if new proposals on reducing subsidies are made in the near future, the top U.S. trade official said Thursday. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said during a conference on agriculture in Washington that the "Doha" round of trade talks does not have to be a lost cause. "I hope we will be able to make progress in the next month or so," he said. "Frankly, I think some of that energy has dissipated because others have not come back with commensurate offers." Agriculture has been a significant sticking point in the WTO talks, as U.S. proposals to reduce subsidies on developed-world farm goods have produced little support from the European Union, while poorer nations have insisted that tariffs and other barriers to trade be eliminated to support the export of their products. The E.U. has resisted matching a U.S. offer to cut farm subsidies by as much as 90 percent. On the domestic front, the Republican-controlled government is looking to slash government supports for U.S. farms, and replace those subsidies with greater "market access" abroad through WTO trade.
