The Not-So-Omnipotent China

Campus Report ^ | August 7, 2008 | Daniel Smith

[bs9021]

The Not-So-Omnipotent China

by: Daniel Smith, August 07, 2008

As the world’s attention and conspiracy theorists turn to Beijing this August, Western nations should not forget China’s role in “The Collapse of the [World Trade Organization (WTO)] Doha Round Trade Talks” in Geneva on July 29. The facts of the failed negotiations reveal a more impotent China than Americans would expect.

Frank Vargo, chief spokesman on trade issues for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), viewed the collapse of the seven-year Doha Rounds as a “watershed.” He was one of several distinguished panelists who addressed a crowd at the American Enterprise Institute on August 6. Vargo attended the “Ministerial in Geneva” and provided daily reports to NAM. In his view, the breakdown of the talks reflected a “failure of flawed philosophy.” The flaw was that Doha would be a “one-way deal.”

Hoping to “kickstart” the negotiations, the U.S. and the European Union (E.U.) “advanced new agricultural efforts.” The E.U. offered to cut its subsidies an additional 60%, and the U.S. offered to reduce its “subsidy ceiling to $15 billion.” Brazil “set the tone” for the negotiations by “sneer[ing]” at both offers. Nor was Brazil alone. By day two of negotiations, “the three primary big emerging manufacturers”—Brazil, China, and India—created a three-way pact that opposed both U.S. and E.U. concessions.

Vargo reported that Kamal Nath, India’s Trade Minister, accused the U.S. and Europe of non-competiveness in the manufacturing industry. In response, as an aside on his day-to-day reports, he accused India of “hiding behind [their] huge tariff wall.” Developing countries like China, Brazil, and India, use tariffs as a source of national income, much like the United States did during its rise to preeminence....

[grey_whiskers]

Good article, but it doesn't look good that the author is wearing a brown shirt.

Cheers!