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A Watered Down Doha Round is Not Acceptable. Negotiators
From All Member Countries Must Redouble Their Efforts to Produce
a Comprehensive Final Agreement.
The success of the Doha Round rests equally on completion
of agreements that liberalize trade in services, manufactured
goods and agricultural products, and improve trade facilitation.
If even one of these critical elements falls short the Round
will be incomplete, and will not serve its intended purpose
of providing the full potential for world-wide economic
growth.
Improvements in all four negotiating areas are critical
for worldwide economic growth.
Agriculture. Agricultural trade is incredibly distorted
by subsidies and high market access barriers. These barriers
prevent America's highly efficient and productive farmers
from competing abroad. These barriers also increase poverty
in developing countries by stifling their exports and raising
food prices for their consumers. A comprehensive Doha agreement
must address high tariff barriers, export subsidies and distorting
domestic subsidies.
Industrial Goods. Substantial reduction in the remaining
barriers on all industrial goods is also critical to the success
of the Doha Round. Despite significant reductions in previous
rounds, tariffs on industrial goods continue to disrupt and
distort trade. Average U.S. tariffs on industrial goods are
below 4 percent, but important developing country markets
for our exports maintain average tariffs of more than 39 percent.
Reducing these tariff and non-tariff barriers helps American
exporters and the workers who depend on exports for their
jobs. A comprehensive Doha Round must include deep tariff
reductions and the elimination of non-tariff barriers across-the-board,
and agreements to eliminate tariffs entirely in key sectors.
Services. Meaningful liberalization in the services
sector is essential for a successful round. Services now account
for more the 65 percent of U.S. GDP and 50 percent of world
GDP. Services are central to global economic growth. A
comprehensive Doha Round must include across-the-board services
liberalization.
Trade Facilitation. A successful Doha Round requires
an ambitious multilateral agreement on the trade facilitation
issues. Expediting the movement, release and clearance of
goods is critical to keep trade flowing. By directly bringing
down transaction costs, commitments in this area would lead
to significant and immediate gains for both exporters and
domestic producers, as well as consumers around the world.
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