Top US, Brazilian leaders meet over global free trade

US President George W. Bush met with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Washington on Wednesday with the two sides having discussed ways of restarting global free trade talks.

The two leaders agreed that the forthcoming ministerial-level World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations are "a real opportunity to keep the trade agenda moving forward," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"They noted the constructive discussions between negotiators of the United States and Brazil during this period leading up to the meeting, and ... underscored the importance of working with others to achieve success," McClellan said.

The WTO's ministerial meeting is due to be held in Hong Kong on Dec. 13-18. The talks is expected to improve the current regulations concerning antidumping measures.

Source: Xinhua