• SPX
  • $5,809.89
  • 0 %
  • $0.03
  • DJI
  • $42,146.73
  • -0.54 %
  • -$227.63
  • N225
  • $37,913.92
  • -0.6 %
  • -$229.37
  • FTSE
  • $8,248.84
  • -0.25 %
  • -$20.54
  • IXIC
  • $18,527.07
  • 0.61 %
  • $111.59

WTO ekes out meager outcomes in overtime Abu Dhabi meeting

By Reuters   |   Mar 1, 2024 at 04:37 PM EST
WTO ekes out meager outcomes in overtime Abu Dhabi meeting

By Emma Farge and Rachna Uppal

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators failed to break a deadlock on major reforms on Friday despite talks extending deep into overtime in Abu Dhabi, in what some delegates said was a triumph of national interest over collective responsibility.

Talks ended early on Saturday after five days of negotiations which failed to see breakthroughs on major negotiating topics like agriculture and fisheries. However, a moratorium on placing tariffs on e-commerce duties was extended by two years, in a relief to businesses.

"On the big ticket items that are essential for the mandate that the WTO wants to sort out, the fisheries, the harmful subsidisation, that just did not happen, because there was not the spirit of give and take," a senior European official said.

On the fifth day of the ministerial meeting, most ministers had already gone home, although India's Piyush Goyal and European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis remained.

Goyal was seen smiling and shaking hands outside a meeting room late on Friday as delegates gathered in small groups next to a coffee stand. Goyal met with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the meeting's chair, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi, in two separate meetings.

"We have not lost out on anything. I go back happy and satisfied," Goyal told reporters as talks started to wind down.

WTO spokesperson Ismaila Dieng had earlier said the discussions were "intensive and difficult".

India, along with South Africa, had opposed extending a moratorium on digital trade tariffs - a move that has overwhelming support of most governments and from business, but later relented.

WTO talks have failed before and this year's negotiations, held in the oil-rich Gulf state the United Arab Emirates, has highlighted fissures between some of the world's top economies.

"We've worked hard this week, we have achieved some important things and we have not managed to complete others," said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the closing session.

BRICS DISAGREEMENT

U.S. President Joe Biden's trade chief Katherine Tai said in an interview with Reuters late on Thursday that if talks failed, fragmentation among the BRICS group would have contributed.

India and China, core members of the BRICS group of nations, have disagreed on key issues including on investment. India's commerce minister joined the negotiations two days after they started and after his Chinese counterpart had left Abu Dhabi.

Pacific island nations have also complained at the talks about feeling marginalized and overlooked by most major powers.

U.S. support for global trade and multilateral groups like the WTO has been renewed under Biden. But negotiators are mindful that former President Donald Trump, who disrupted the multilateral system, could win a second term in the U.S. presidential election in November.

Earlier in the week, even the formal acceptance of completed negotiations on improving investment was blocked at an organisation where all 164 members must agree by consensus.

A consensus on major deals would have elevated the UAE's status as a global interlocutor, as it seeks to place a bigger emphasis on multilateralism and dialogue, a turnaround from the assertive foreign policy it was pursuing a decade ago.

It has served as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, hosted the U.N. COP28 Climate Conference, joined China and India as members of the BRICS grouping of nations and established ties with Israel.

(Reporting by Emma Farge and Rachna Uppal, writing by Alexander Cornwell and Emma Farge; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Kim Coghill, Angus MacSwan, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Deepa Babington)

Did you find this insightful?


We are preparing, please wait

×
New Alert

Select an alert type

Choose sentiment spike or mentions spike or both to receive email alerts and app notification for the selected stock.
Note: Please be aware that you will receive an email only once a day, around 8:00 AM (EST), in the event of any spike.
In future if you don't want to receive any email then delete stocks added into alert section.

New Alert

Setup alert

×

Premium Content

This content is only available for premium members. Please become a paid member to access.

Download App

Currently, memberships can only be purchased through the app.

×

Log In


or

download app using google store Continue with Google download app using apple Continue with Apple

Email Verification

An email with a verification code has been sent to your email address.

Welcome to StockNews!

Create Your Account

Email Verification

An email with a verification code has been sent to your email address.