NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Negotiators gathering at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded Wednesday it will be impossible to set frameworks for nonagricultural trade liberalization by Saturday's deadline, Kyodo News reported, citing trade sources.
The conclusion followed three days of WTO talks that started Monday to discuss a proposal by Pierre-Louis Girard, chairman of the WTO's nonfarm trade negotiations, the report said.
The proposal, made May 16, calls for across-the-board tariff cuts and the future elimination of tariffs on seven nonagricultural products such as marine products, footwear, leather goods, and electronic and electrical appliances.
During the three-day talks, the proposal met opposition from Japan and the U.S. as well as developing countries.
According to Kyodo, trade sources said the WTO will reconvene nonfarm trade talks in July and August in order to seek an agreement to set the frameworks, or "modalities," at its ministerial meeting to be held in Mexico in September.
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