Washington: The US is looking for leadership from developing countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa to help conclude the Doha Round of trade negotiations by making hard choices, a top Obama Administration official responsible for international trade has said.
The US understands that the Doha Round is fundamentally a development round, and quite rightly, the least developed countries should not be expected to make the sacrifices to bring this round to a conclusion, said Ambassador Ron Kirk, the US Trade Representative.
"But we do, however, see an opportunity for leadership from some of the advanced developing countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa to make the kind of hard choices that those of us who seek to lead in the global trading community have to make," Kirk said in his address at the US Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
In this time of economic crisis, though it is difficult for the US, it is absolutely critical that the negotiations are completed so that those least developed countries do not fall off a cliff, he said.
"So, the United States' success at Doha means a balanced and ambitious agreement with meaningful market access gains for all of the parties involved," Kirk said.