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USTR Zoellick hopes to boost Russia WTO
bid
Reuters
WASHINGTON: US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick
said he hoped a meeting in Paris on Monday with Russian Economic
Trade and Development Minister German Gref would boost Russia’s
bid to join the World Trade Organisation. “Our economic relationship
with Russia has developed rapidly in recent months and Minister
Gref and I will explore concrete ways in which to capitalize
on this positive momentum, especially by advancing Russia’s
accession to the WTO,” Mr Zoellick said in a statement released
in Washington after he had departed for three days of meetings
in Paris and Brussels.
The talks with Mr Gref follow a decision by President George
W Bush last week to notify Moscow formally that the US will
abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to begin work
on a new missile defense system. Although Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin called the decision a “mistake,” the response from Moscow
was not as critical as many expected. Mr Putin has placed a
high priority on Russia joining the WTO, which recently opened
its door to China as a new member.
Russia’s bid has gathered steam in recent months, especially
after Mr Putin’s decision to support the US in its war on terrorism.
Russia is the largest economy that is not yet a member of WTO.
Following a series of informal meetings at WTO headquarters
in Geneva, members of the “working party” on Russia’s accession
bid “have agreed to pursue a vigorous negotiating timetable
in the first part of next year,” Mr Zoellick said. “The new
dynamic of US-Russia economic interaction has invigorated
all aspects of our relationship, as we seek to support Russia’s
continued integration in the global trading system, successful
domestic economic reform, and the promotion of a stable and
transparent investment climate,” he added.
Brussels meetings.
Mr Zoellick will travel to Brussels for meetings with European
Union trade chief Pascal Lamy and other EU officials on Tuesday
and Wednesday, the US Trade Representative’s office said.
It will be first bilateral meeting between Mr Zoellick and
Mr Lamy since the WTO ministerial last month in Doha, Qatar,
where they both helped launch a new round of trade talks.
Since then, the Bush administration’s bid for enhanced trade
negotiating authority has survived a narrow vote in the House
and is set for Senate consideration early next year.
EU and US officials said that during Mr Zoellick’s visit to
Brussels, he and Mr Lamy would discuss the next steps in the
WTO following the decision last month to launch a new trade
round. The two men are expected to review a range of transatlantic
trade disputes, including a long-running row over US tax breaks
for exporters.
The WTO appeals body is expected to give a final ruling on
the rights and wrongs of the dispute in January. If the EU
wins the case, it has threatened to push for up to $4 billion
in sanctions on US goods. Mr Lamy and Mr Zoellick will also
discuss a brewing row over steel. Mr Lamy has said the EU
would complain to the WTO if US President George W Bush accepts
recommendations from the US International Trade Commission
that Mr Bush provide up to four years of import relief for
US steel companies, including possible high tariffs.
Mr Lamy and Mr Zoellick could announce a resolution of a
dispute over music royalties, an EU source said. A WTO panel
ruled last year that US bars, small restaurants and shops
should pay royalties for music they play to entertain customers.
The Irish Music Rights Organisation had argued that exemptions
from copyright payments granted to small establishments in
the US could deprive Irish songwriters of several million
dollars in royalties.
Mr Zoellick will also want to discuss US concerns over a
three-year-old EU ban on approving new types of genetically
modified crops, the US source said.
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