Gordon Brown to Push for World Trade Deal Before George Bush Leaves Office

Gordon Brown to Push for World Trade Deal Before George Bush Leaves Office

Gordon Brown has won the agreement of senior aides to Barack Obama to try to secure a world trade deal before President Bush quits the White House in January.

Brown is to raise the issue at a meeting of world leaders being convened by Bush on the economic crisis in Washington next Saturday. The business secretary, Peter Mandelson, said yesterday that the world economy could secure a deal worth £120bn annually if an agreement is secured.

[Lord Mandelson, the former EU trade commissioner,] said: "Mr Obama has a pro-market approach including government action to shape markets and distribute its fruits more fairly. Inevitably, he and others in the Democratic party are concerned by the impact of globalisation on American workers and industry. This could lead to Democrats becoming more sceptical about the virtues of free trade...We will be engaging with our counterparts and friends to encourage an open-market, non-protectionist policy to be adopted".

A deal largely broke down in the summer due to disagreements between the Indians and the US over the so-called special safeguard mechanism, that would have allowed developing countries with non-commercial agricultural sectors to protect their sectors from sudden and substantial surges in agricultural imports into their economies.

November 6 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/06/world-trade-deal