Trade impasse continues after G8 summit

Earlier this month, there was hope that the G8 summit would renew global trade negotiations between wealthy and underdeveloped states. Yet by the end of the summit last Friday no compromise was found and this has seemed to have caused a division in the Americas.

Despite Brazil representing undeveloped countries during the talks in Germany, a group of eight countries from Asia and the Americas will present a proposal that would call for finding a “middle ground” involving major concessions from rich and poor countries. The plan appears to agree with the viewpoint of most economic experts in that something is far better than nothing:

“‘The losses and missed gains associated with a failure or freezing of the (Doha round) far outweigh the costs of a less than perfect agreement,’ said the proposal of the eight WTO members. ‘The time has come for all WTO members to show the flexibility needed to conclude the negotiations by early 2008 at the latest.’”

The break from Brazil and India may represent a turnaround in trade talks since the Doha Round first started in 2001.

Image- Turkish Press

Sources- Christian Science monitor, Monsters & Critics, Forbes, Reuters UK, Wikipedia