Thank you, Ambassador
Mohamed, for allowing me to address the General Council.
I wanted just briefly
to reinforce the message that I asked Ambassador Allgeier to convey yesterday
regarding our U.S. commitment to the DDA negotiations. That support comes from the highest
level.
President Bush is an
ardent supporter of the Doha Agenda, as I know Dr. Supachai saw first hand at
the G-8 meeting in Gleneagles. He’s
challenged us to be bold and visionary, and to ensure that we don’t miss the
opportunity to have trade make its important contribution to global growth and
development.
The key is creating new
opportunities and demonstrating to our citizens that enhanced trade can make a
significant, positive difference in their lives. This is true for the
United
States, but also for our developing country partners
as well. That’s why we all are
seeking to ensure that the Round results in new opportunities for the products
and services of developing countries.
For the
United
States, the momentum is positive, but trade is not an
easy issue at home these days:
o
earlier this spring, the Congress reviewed and determined
that it was important for us to remain in the WTO because a rules-based system
is essential not only for our economic and strategic interests but also for
global economic prosperity, growth and the alleviation of poverty;
o
the President received approval of a short extension of
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), enabling us to negotiate a completed DDA
agreement by the end of 2006 for Congressional approval;
o
Secretary Johanns is beginning his work on agricultural
reform and renewal of U.S. Farm legislation . This fits well with our common
goal for Hong
Kong to secure
modalities for agriculture; and
o
Passage of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
early yesterday morning by the House of Representatives and today by the full
Congress was extremely significant.
The agreement is important in itself, but it is fundamentally related to
making progress here in the WTO and advancing our broader trade liberalization
agenda.
We have high ambitions
for all areas of Doha – starting with agriculture. We have made clear that we are ready to
explore different approaches that can bring the DDA together and deliver real
results in all three pillars.
I understand that
discussions yesterday confirmed yet again that market access in agriculture is
the major sticking point in the negotiations. It is behind the other areas of the
agriculture negotiations, and we can see that it is holding up progress not only
in the rest of agriculture, but in NAMA and services as well.
We have also listened
carefully to the particular concerns and sensitivities that have been raised by
our developing country partners in the negotiations. We are prepared to work with these
Members to address their concerns in ways that build upon and strengthen the
rules based system that is so vital to us all.
We need to be ambitious
in all areas of the negotiations if we are to meet our goal to complete
negotiations in 2006.
My purpose in coming to
Geneva was to meet with Ministers and Ambassadors and WTO Officials and to see
first hand how to overcome the blockages we face, how to make progress and to
ensure that we all keep uppermost in our minds what the potential gains of a
successful round can be for our workers, farmers, service providers and
consumers.
All of us here have a
calling. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. Our calling is to improve the lives of
our citizens and the global economy by succeeding with
Doha. We all need to do a better job of keeping
focused on the gains that can be realized through trade liberalization – and in
meeting the adjustment challenges that we will all face as that process goes
forward.
The
United
States played a leadership role in launching these
negotiations. We will continue to
show leadership in trying to bring them to a successful conclusion. We are ready to be bold and creative,
and to bridge differences. But this
must be a shared endeavor of the entire WTO Membership.
I hope we will all use
the summer wisely to find creative ways to build bridges so that we can meet the
substantial challenges ahead of us and deliver the results that are needed in
Hong
Kong to finish these
negotiations in 2006.
Thank you, again,
Madame Chair, and congratulations again on your stewardship of the General
Council.