From July 21, more than 30 key members of the World Trade Organization will hold the week-long ministerial meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to make a breakthrough on issues such as cutting agricultural subsidies and import tariffs on agricultural goods and enhancing industrial products and services market access, so as to save the Doha Round negotiations between the beetle and the block.
The Doha Round first convened in November 2001. For nearly seven years, this roundtable has concerned itself with the vital interests of 5.5 billion people in the world and 97% of global trade. However, because European countries, the United States and other developed countries have refused to substantially cut agricultural subsidies in previous negotiations, but have required developing countries to further open up their industrial goods and services market, the negotiation remain in a deadlock.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy recently pointed out that European countries, the United States, and other developed countries have indicated plans to reduce existing agricultural subsidies and import tariffs on agricultural goods by 70% and 50%; and cut tariffs for industrial products from developing countries. They emphasized that according to "the principle of reciprocity," developing countries must further open up their markets in investment, financial services and other areas.
Developed countries have good reason to hold the aforementioned position on agricultural issues. Currently, their annual agricultural subsidies amount to more than $3oo billion, with $48 billion in subsidies from the world’s largest agricultural exporter the United States, and €45 billion from the European Union (EU). In addition, the EU has also levied 23% of tariffs on agricultural imports. Japan and other developed countries have been following the example of Europe and the United States and protect their agriculture industry by adopting agricultural subsidies and tariff barriers.
These practices have had a devastating impact on developing countries. With high subsidies and high tariffs, the United States is dumping its agricultural products worldwide. The EU, Japan and other countries have also shut the door to agricultural products from developing countries. This has led to an agricultural slump and a large number of bankruptcies among farmers in developing countries.
Now, developed countries plan to make concessions on agricultural issues. In the meantime, the United States, the European Union and other developed countries demand that developing countries open up their services sector, particularly their financial markets. Their monopoly in global finance facilitates their enhanced control and exploitation of finance and capital in developing countries. Developing countries, having experienced or witnessed the tremendous destructive power of the recent financial crisis, began to strictly supervise foreign investment and international speculative capital. Those developing countries who eased the monitoring of international capital - such as Thailand, Indonesia and Argentina - encountered catastrophic attacks on their financial system and economic development during the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2001 peso crisis, which later triggered serious social unrest and political crisis.
The practice among developed countries is reminiscent of a classic Western (film): a train is gaining speed and rolling towards another train at a slower speed. The conductor has been shot and killed, but his right hand is still on the accelerator button. In the face of the "train" of financial liberalization that is manipulated by developed countries, in order to avoid a serious "train collision" - such as financial turmoil and crisis - developing countries, which understand their own financial system and monitoring system are not yet perfect, have to say "no."
Therefore, to regain the momentum of the Doha Round, developed countries should take the lead in fulfilling their commitments and stop forcing developing countries to open up their financial markets. Just as Nobel Laureate and Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz said, if developed countries do not reduce and eventually abolish their agricultural subsidies, and continue to forcefully promote global financial liberalization, they will just be filling a new bottle with old wine. They are profiting at the expense of others to developing countries, while hoping to remain discreet.
By People's Daily Online
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article