Submitted by 2point6billion.com Blog

Ahead of the Doha Round of global free trade talks to be held next week in Geneva, emerging Asian economies have stated that they will support trade liberalization, but only if developed countries offer meaningful cuts to farm subsidies.

The US and EU subsidies their farmers, who are able to sell agricultural products to developing countries at ridiculously low prices, which in turn harms farmers in developing countries,

During the make or break meetings next week developing nations plan to press for greater access for their agricultural products to industrialized markets, while developed countries want a better deal for their industrial exports in the developing world, reported the AFP.

From India’s point of view, “opening doors to manufactured products … is not possible unless India gets substantial concessions from developed countries,” said economist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. In particular, India wants cuts in farm subsidies, said Thakurta, of the New Delhi-based School of Convergence.

China, which joined the WTO in 2001, has sought permission to keep higher tariffs on industrial goods as well as an extended three- to five-year grace period to implement tariff cuts, sparking opposition from developed countries.

But analysts said Beijing sees the benefits of trade liberalisation for its booming economy.

“China is still quite positive about opening its markets,” particularly in commodities and manufactured goods, said Song Hong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

“China certainly needs a stable multilateral trade environment to ensure supplies from overseas, especially of raw materials such as minerals.

“But it is rather prudent towards speculative money inflows into the financial sector, property and stock market,” he told AFP.

The countries will be meeting for the Doha Round of global free trade talks, which faces a series of make-or-break meetings from July 21 when ministers from 30 economies gather in Geneva in a last-ditch bid to strike a deal.