U.S. talks free trade and imposes new sanctions
by Benjamin on April 29, 2009
The new U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, said that the U.S. will reject protectionism and pursue negotiated trade liberalisation, and saying the U.S. is committed to the Doha WTO round which is a “once-in-a generation opportunity to forge a strong framework for the future of global trade” according to Bridges Trade Digest and The Dallas Morning News. (Kirk served as mayor in Dallas for seven years, which might account for the coverage).
On the same day, Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, warned that
In London, leaders committed not to repeat the historic mistakes of previous eras. Since that G-20 meeting less than 3 weeks ago, 9 G-20 countries have taken or are considering 23 measures that restrict trade at the expense of other countries. That’s almost half the G-20 member states.
Of those nine countries, the U.S. features most prominently on a World Bank fact-sheet of Actions against Trade since 02 April 2009. Argentina, Brazil, the EU and the US have all imposed trade sanctions over the last three weeks, on top of which are the recent pork import sanctions. The U.S. is stacking up restrictions on Chinese tires; Carrier bags from Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan; Chinese seating valves; Chinese oil derivatives; Citric acid from China and Canada; Canadian lumber and some chemicals from India and China.
Zoellick said that “four G-20 countries have lifted restrictions and are to be commended, but some have lifted restrictions with one hand and imposed them with the other”, while the U.S. is imposing them with both…
Tags: free trade, G20, international trade, Robert B. Zoellick, Ron Kirk, trade sanction, World Bank
