WASHINGTON – Rocker-activist Bono helped cajole world leaders into embracing African debt relief. Now, U.S. officials hope U2's lead singer can help salvage global free-trade talks.
Early this month, Trade Representative Rob Portman briefed the Irish singer and top staffers of his advocacy group on the U.S. agenda in talks taking place under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. The half-hour telephone call was the latest attempt to get the singer to help push for a deal. His organization, DATA -- "debt AIDS trade Africa" -- fights poverty and AIDS, particularly in the developing world...
The stepped-up American trade diplomacy has two aims. One is to build an expanding coalition of countries and advocates to join the U.S. in putting pressure on Europe to make steep cuts in farm tariffs. Europe's refusal so far is widely seen as the most significant factor in the stalled WTO talks.
The second, more modest goal is to prevent the Hong Kong meetings -- scheduled to start Dec. 13 -- from collapsing. The last major attempt to advance the Doha Round, in Cancún, Mexico, in 2003, fell apart when developing countries essentially revolted amid complaints that the U.S. and Europe weren't doing enough to ensure the deal would help poor nations.
U.S. officials have in recent weeks all but given up on the idea that the Hong Kong gathering would produce an ambitious framework deal. They had argued a framework was essential to ensuring the negotiations could be concluded in time for President Bush to submit a deal to Congress before his special trade-negotiating authority expires in mid-2007.
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