Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, yesterday made the following statement after meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. Amorim is the top negotiator for Brazil in the World Trade Organization negotiations. Grassley is leading a Congressional delegation to Brazil to discuss agriculture policies and trade issues.
"Our meeting with Minister Amorim went 30 minutes longer than scheduled, and I appreciate that he made the effort to spend extra time with us.
"It was a very productive and candid meeting. Brazil and the United States have been working together in many areas to advance the Doha Round of the World Trade Organizations. Brazil has been a leader in a number of areas during these negotiations. I made the point that I hope they will continue to be a leader and help us push other countries, both developed and developing, to open their agriculture markets. Time is short. Trade Promotion Authority ends for the President in mid 2007. Without TPA, I don’t think we will be able to advance very far with our multilateral negotiations. And, I can’t guarantee that we’ll have the same opportunity anytime soon.
"I also emphasized to Amorim that the U.S. did its part when we put forth a bold agricultural proposal to reduce subsidies. Now it’s time for our trading partners in the world community to step up and make meaningful offers in agriculture market access, industrial market access and services.
If they don't, I question if we'll be able to break the WTO logjam. And, if we don’t see real market access for U.S. exporters in this round, then there is no way it will be a success.
"Of particular relevance to Iowa, I commended the actions that Brazil has taken to enforce its intellectual property laws, but I also emphasized that it’s important that they continue their efforts to collect royalties on biotech seeds so U.S. farmers aren’t at a disadvantage. I also told Amorim that I hope Brazil can do its part in moving forward negotiations on services at the WTO. The successful conclusion of services negotiations would provide significant benefits to Iowa, especially in the area of financial services."