Key points from this article:
1) Zoellick rejected two of Brazil's top demands - a postonetment of the 2005 FTAA deadline (Brazil wants to push it to 2007) and the possibility of 4+1 (MeroSur + U.S.) bilateral negotiations.
2) Zoellick also reiterated that ag subsidies/anti-dumping will be dealt with at WTO, not FTAA
3) U.S. seeking Brazilian support at WTO (conditioning FTAA market access, etc. on Brazil's support at WTO).
4) THERE WILL BE A MID-JUNE FTAA MINI-MINISTERIAL IN MARYLAND (13 TRADE MINISTERS FROM FTAA COUNTRIES - WE DON'T KNOW WHICH ONES YET, BUT BRAZIL WILL CLEARLY BE ONE). Assume it will be before the Egypt mini-ministerial.
Timi
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Zoellick Demands FTAA Completion by 2005, Rejects U.S.-Mercosur Bilateral
Denise Chrispim Marin
Brasília - The United States Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick, rejected today two of the proposals by the government of Luiz Ináncio Lula da Silva regarding ongoing trade negotiations. After a 90 minute meeting with Economic Minister Antônio Palocci, Zoellick rejected the initiation of direct negotiations between the United States and the MercoSur as well as a postponement in the Free Trade Area of the Americas completion deadline, currently scheduled for January 1, 2005.
The lead American negotiator noted the declared Brazilian ambition to take on a leadership role in South America as an argument in favor of the continuation of the FTAA [negotiations] and also made it clear that the reduction of agricultural subsidies would be an objective that Brazil would only achieve if it is aligned with the U.S. in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Upon exiting the Economic Ministry, Zoellick said that he had brought some "pragmatic ideas of how to strengthen and advance the FTAA process" to the Brazilian government. He noted that, before the FTAA Ministerial in Miami, Presidents Lula and U.S. President George W. Bush and their negotiators will have various opportunities to overcome current impasses.
First, both will be present in Evian, France on June 2 for the G-8 meeting. Afterwards on June 20, the two presidents will meet in Washington. In addition to this, the U.S. is organizing a mini-ministerial in Maryland in the middle of June in which 13 trade ministers from the 34 countries involved in the negotiations will participate.
"Starting now, the coming months will be decisive," declared Zoellick, discarding the idea of a possible 4+1 [MercoSur + U.S.]. "Therefore, this is the moment to roll up our sleeves and start working."
At various points during an improvised press interview, Zoellick reiterated that the focus of the U.S. is the advance of the FTAA negotiations and that Brazil, as co-chair of this process, has an equal amount of responsibility for its success. Zoellick skillfully adopted President Lula's key foreign policy positions as pretexts so that Brazil does not run from its commitments to continue in these negotiations.
"Our emphasis is on the success of the FTAA. This is the objective on which we will focus our attention on concluding by 2005." The importance of adhering to the FTAA timeline - something that is being treated by Itamaraty more like an indicator/benchmark than a commitment - was another constant throughout the interview.
The U.S. representative carefully rejected the demand by Brazil and its partners that the U.S. include topics in the FTAA such as agriculture subsidies and rules for the application of anti-dumping and/or compensatory measures. In negating this possibility, Zoellick reiterated that the elimination of subsidies would depend on the support that the U.S. obtains in the WTO regarding its offer on this topic.
"One of the things that I am doing in this is to ask for Brazil's support to obtain the reduction of European and Japanese subsidies. "
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Timi Gerson
Organizer/FTAA Coordinator
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington DC, 20003 USA
tgerson@citizen.org & www.tradewatch.org
Ph: + 202-454-5103, Fax: + 202-547 7392
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