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`New trade round will help India's lot'

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Aug. 9

THE visiting US Trade Representative, Mr Robert B. Zoellick, has hoped that India would work with the US and other supporting countries to ensure a successful launch of a new round of global trade negotiations at the forthcoming Doha Ministerial conferen ce.

``A new round will be a win-win for India. A failure to launch a new round of global trade negotiations will hurt India most of all,'' Mr Zoellick told captains of industry at a meeting jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) here on Thursday.

The first high-ranking Bush Administration official to visit India, Mr Zoellick, said: ``We must remove the stain of Seattle by launching a new global trade round in Doha in November.'' He also emphasised that the US would move ahead through regional an d bilateral arrangements even if a new round does not materialise at the Doha Ministerial.

``It won't be good for us if a new round is not launched. The US represents 20-25 per cent of world trade. We will manage even if the new round is not launched. We will still move ahead through our regional and bilateral arrangements with some of the cou ntries. If some countries are not keen to proceed with trade liberalisation, we will proceed with those who are,'' Mr Zoellick said.

He held that an active and constructive participation in a new trading round would provide India with the opportunity to amplify its voice and help shape the rules of globalisation. ``Withdrawal will leave the field to others. The sooner India supports n ew negotiations, the more influential India will be,'' the USTR said.

On India's concerns over implementation issues, Mr Zoellick said that the US was working with other developed nations to address legitimate implementation concerns in the coming months and has already offered adjustments.

``We will also be willing to consider other concerns as part of a new negotiation and we recognise the need to provide aid and other financial support, including through the World Bank, to help developing countries build the capacity to take part in trad e negotiations and to follow through on agreements,'' Mr Zoellick said.

The USTR also said that India's tariffs and regulatory barriers remained high when compared to other countries. ``Although India's average tariff rate has fallen to about 30 per cent, that is still twice as high as China's average rate and 10 times as hi gh as the US,'' Mr Zoellick said.

Answering a question on whether the Byrd Amendment is consistent with the WTO regime, he said that there is nothing in the text of the WTO agreements which states that this is not acceptable. ``Anyway, this is a matter which is before the WTO,'' he said.

Mr Zoellick also pointed out that India is increasingly using anti-dumping duties as a trade defence measure and that ``you should not be surprised if we use it as well.''

On a question as to whether he anticipates that a new round would be launched at Doha, the USTR told newspersons that ``it's more likely than not that a new round would be launched.''

He, however, said that there is still a lot of work that is to be done and that more officials in the capitals have started to engage themselves towards this end. ``I believe that there is increasing momentum,'' Mr Zoellick said.

Pic.: The USTR, Mr Robert B. Zoellick, flanked by chamber presidents, Mr Raghu Mody (Assocham), Mr Sanjiv Goenka (CII), and Mr Chirayu R. Amin (FICCI), at a luncheon in the Capital on Thursday.

Picture by Kamal Narang