U.S. sees a plus for Doha in weaker world economy

By Adriana Garcia and Missy Ryan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deepening gloom over the global economy may augur well for trade talks, a top U.S. official said, as negotiators suggested the Doha round is on the cusp of a breakthrough after years of acrimony and delay.

"There is a growing sense that, given the concerns about ... slowing growth in the global economy, that ministers are even more focused on opportunities that would provide a shot in the arm," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau told the Reuters Latin America Investment summit on Thursday.

Veroneau, the Bush administration's lead trade negotiator for Latin America, said it is too early to tell when ministers from the World Trade Organization's 151 member countries would be ready to gather in Geneva for a meeting widely expected to seal a long-awaited breakthrough in the talks.

On Thursday, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said a ministerial meeting, which had been proposed for March or April, could take place before the end of May.

Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, said separately he was more confident than ever that a breakthrough was in reach.

In recent weeks, negotiators in Geneva have been chipping away at technical issues that, while seemingly trivial to the outsider, threaten to derail the talks entirely.

One of those is how countries will calculate increased market access for sensitive farm products each nation would like to protect from increased competition from abroad.

The stakes are high for the United States, Veroneau said, which is seeking to contain a deepening housing and credit crisis and reinvigorate its slowing economy.  Continued...