JUST DROP UNWILLING PARTIES FROM THE TREATY:

A Promise Not Kept: World Trade Organization Gathers for Last-Ditch Attempt To Give Farmers in Poor Nations Better Access to Markets (Paul Blustein, 6/30/06, Washington Post)

Even before the meetings could begin in earnest, initial comments from some ministers underscored the difficulties. Peter Mandelson, the European Union trade commissioner, said Thursday that the E.U. may offer sharp cuts in tariffs on farm goods in an effort to satisfy developing countries. But Mandelson can't count on bringing along even the countries he ostensibly represents.

His remarks drew sharp rebuttals from European member countries with powerful farm lobbies. They suggested their governments would use their clout to block deep cuts. Christine Lagarde, the French trade minister, saw "no room to maneuver in that direction." [...]

Many people "got angry at the end of the '90s about the system and its inability to help poor people," said Jamie Drummond, executive director of the advocacy group DATA -- for Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa -- founded by the Irish rock star Bono. "The point was to make capitalism look good again. If that's your goal, you'd better do a lot better than they're doing."

This weekend's meeting is crucial because WTO members face a deadline they may not be able to ignore: the looming expiration of a U.S. law that gives President Bush special authority to negotiate trade deals. Although the law doesn't expire until July 2007, failure to complete a deal in the next few months would mean that it could not get approval from Congress under the law's special procedures, under which amendments are prohibited. [...]

Leading the U.S. delegation is Susan C. Schwab, the newly appointed U.S. trade representative. She portrays the United States as the leader in the talks, claiming that its willingness to make concessions has not been matched by other big powers, notably the European Union and Brazil. The United States has offered what the Bush administration describes as a 60 percent cut in farm subsidies, with the proviso that rich nations, including the E.U., cut tariffs on farm products by an average of about two-thirds.

In a show of resolve, Schwab joined congressional leaders at a news conference this week to show that there is little, if any, room for compromise in the U.S. position.

"What have we seen in response to [the U.S.] proposal?" said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "A very weak, very unmeaningful and uncomprehensive proposal, frankly, coming out of the European Union." The E.U. proposal would cut average farm tariffs considerably less than would Washington's, and it would keep many "sensitive" products such as beef, dairy and poultry sheltered from foreign competition.

If European nations won't cut their subsidies just send them home.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 30, 2006 8:28 AM