Meeting in Doha, Qatar, 142 WTO-member countries agreed to launch the ninth round of global trade talks since 1947. A ministerial declaration was released outlining the scope and parameters of a new round of global trade talks.
Grassley said:
"The outcome of this conference is very good news. And the mandate for new agriculture negotiations is a tremendous win for America's farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers. When the outlook looked bleak, Ambassador Zoellick and his team just wouldn't give up, and the results speak for themselves.
"The United States achieved a great deal on every one of our primary agriculture negotiating goals. There's a clear and strong mandate on negotiating new market access initiatives for America's farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers. There's an important reference to negotiating "substantial reductions" in trade-distorting domestic support, which will have a significantly greater affect on our trading partners who use more trade-distorting domestic support than we do. And the declaration retains our objective of phasing out all export subsidies, which are perhaps the most trade-disrupting subsidies of all.
"I'm also especially pleased to see that two items are not in the text. There's no mention of the precautionary principle, which would invite the use of disguised barriers to trade and other forms of discrimination aimed at United States agricultural products. And there's no mandate to open or renegotiate the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures.
"The United States even did well in other negotiating areas that are somewhat controversial, such as the WTO rules relating to anti-dumping. The United States has been on the defensive for some time because of its use of its trade remedy laws. But the text negotiated in Doha preserves the ability of the United States to use our current laws, while at the same time seeking to improve badly designed rules employed by some of our trading partners that result in costly abuses that are ultimately harmful to United States economic interests.
Now that we've achieved this important breakthrough to launch a new round, it's up to us to take advantage of this opportunity. The stakes for our economy are high. Trade accounts for as much as a-third of all U.S. economic activity. Other countries won't seriously engage with us and open their markets to our farmers and workers just because we have new global trade negotiations. Our trading partners will put their best offers on the table only when they see that the President has the credibility to make good on his commitments. U.S. negotiators need the maximum amount of credibility we can give them at the negotiating table, right at the start of negotiations. The beginning phase of trade negotiations is a crucial time. That's when the agenda is set, when the initial advantage is gained or lost. If the United States doesn't lead this process, our trading partners will.
"The most important and effective way we can bolster United States negotiating credibility is to renew the President's trade promotion authority. Without the credibility that trade promotion authority confers, our negotiators will start the most important trade negotiations of the last seven years with one hand tied behind their backs. But if we put aside our partisan differences and reaffirm America's 50-year commitment to free trade, there's still time to act. So I'd like to see senators on both sides of the aisle to join me in seeking a moderate, bipartisan consensus, so we can renew the President's trade promotion authority this year."