Geneva: The WTO talks in Geneva have gone into the second week with about 30 trade ministers staying behind indicating the importance that they attach to them.
The WTO secretariat is releasing the revised texts reflecting the convergence achieved so far in agricultural goods and industrial products but the texts also have blank spaces denoting disagreements.
Susan Schwab, the United States Trade representative blamed large emerging nations for those blank spaces.
To this Kamal Nath Commerce minister sharply reacted saying, "We are large, everybody knows that, we are emerging, everybody knows that, if that is the case so be it."
India, China and a large number of other developing countries have objections to the safeguards against import surges.
To lower cotton subsidies the US wants China to lower import duties. It wants the large developing countries to abolish import duties on automobiles, chemicals and textiles.
The US itself took 10 years to lower high duties on items of interest to India and China, like textiles and garments.Though there is agreement on many issues but unless some of these politically sensitive issue are settled the talks could be back to where they were.
"We have issues on nama, we are opposed to anticontentration, we want to protect our auto sector. We have given nothing and got nothing because nothing is settled yet," Nath said.
These talks were suppose to address the developmental concerns of the developing countries but with just a few days left for the talks to wrap up the fingerpointing has begun.
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