THE UNITED STATES REACTED CAUTIOUSLY TUESDAY TO TWO COMPROMISE PROPOSALS IN GLOBAL TRADE TALKS, BUT SAID IT HOPES THE NEW PLANS COULD EVENTUALLY HELP WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) MEMBERS REACH A DEAL. “WE LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT WEEK'S WORK IN GENEVA, WHEN WE WILL EXCHANGE WITH OUR TRADING PARTNERS INITIAL REACTIONS TO THE TEXTS AND DISCUSS HOW TO TAKE THE NEGOTIATIONS FORWARD INTO THE [AUTUMN],” U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE (USTR) SPOKESWOMAN GRETCHEN HAMEL SAID. WITH THE DOHA ROUND OF WTO TALKS NEARING COLLAPSE, THE GENEVA-BASED CHAIRMEN OF THE AGRICULTURAL AND NON-AGRICULTURAL NEGOTIATING GROUPS RELEASED THEIR PROPOSALS TUESDAY FOR OVERCOMING DIFFERENCES AND REACHING AGREEMENT. “BOTH OF THE TEXTS WILL DEMAND CLOSE ANALYSIS AS WE DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE U.S. REACTION,” HAMEL SAID, NOTING THAT A FINAL DEAL ALSO WOULD HAVE TO INCLUDE TRADE IN SERVICES.
