Keesing's World News Archives » Breaking History  »  International  »  WTO: Collapse of Doha round of talks (pub. Sept. 11, 2008)  »  WTO: collapse of Doha round of talks - timeline

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• April 2008. Growth in world trade slows to 5.5 per cent in 2007, down from 8.5 per cent in 2006. Economists predict that rising energy and food commodity prices in combination with turbulent financial markets continue to threaten growth. Some developing countries support the imposition of tariffs on imports of major food commodities in order to protect local farmers.
• February 2008. A WTO trade ruling is made against China. The complaint, filed by the USA, the EU and Canada, concerns barriers of entry for vehicle parts into the Chinese market.
• January 2008. Chinas annual rate of economic growth exceeds 10 per cent for the 5th consecutive year.
• June 2007. A meeting of trade representatives in Potsdam, Germany, fails to achieve a breakthrough on Doha round issues including agricultural subsidies.
• April 2007. Negotiators from the G-6 (Group of Six)Australia, Brazil, the EU, India, Japan, and the USAmeet in New Delhi (the capital of India) to relaunch the stalled Doha Round of WTO talks.
• January 2007. At a three-day meeting in Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum (WEF) calls for revival of the Doha round. Trade ministers from some 30 key countries agree to restart Doha round negotiations.
• November 2006. Vietnam is invited to join the WTO. WTO director general Pascal Lamy says that progress on the stalled Doha talks can be made only through concessions on agriculture.
• July 2006. Attempts to relaunch the Doha Round fail, over the issues of agricultural subsidies and developing country import tariffs. In response to a US demand that developing countries cut subsidies to their own manufacturers, Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath reportedly remarks: "We say there should be fair trade, not only free trade."
• December 2005. A meeting of trade ministers in Hong Kong adjourns without advancing the goals of the Doha round. Members of the G-20 (Group of Twenty) developing agricultural-exporting countries, including Brazil, India, and South Africa, pressure the EU to phase out its subsidies for agricultural exports.
• September 2005. Chinese and EU trade negotiators negotiate a resolution to the impoundment of millions of Chinese textile imports exceeding import quotas in EU ports. The import limits (on garments and yarn, for example) had been set just months before.
• July 2005. Leaders of the G-8 (Group of Eight--the Group of Seven industrialised economies, plus Russia) countries hold a summit in Scotland to formulate an agenda in two key areas: providing flexibility on African debt and combating global climate change.
• November 2004. Leaders of the G-20 countries (comprising the G-8 industrialised countries, plus the 12 leading developing countries) agree to cancel a large portion of Iraqs sovereign debt.
• August 2004. The EU, USA, Japan, and Brazil agree in principle to eliminate all agricultural export subsidies, reduce trade-distorting subsidies, and lower tariff barriers, in a WTO meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Developing countries consent to reduce tariffs on manufactured goods. Detailed implementation is left for a later time.
• September 2003. A new bloc of developing countries, led by Brazil, India, and China, scuttle a trade liberalisation meeting in Cancn, Mexico. The group rejects the EU-Japan agenda of negotiations on investment and competition rules, trade facilitation, and transparency in government procurement. Developing countries also decry a US refusal to acquiesce to a call to reduce its annual US$3.8 billion subsidy to domestic cotton farmers.
• September 2003. World Bank president James Wolfensohn criticises developed countries for spending six times more on agricultural subsidies and 10 times more on defence than they do for development assistance to poor countries. Wolfensohn also criticises developing countries for spending more on the military than on education.
• August 2003. A new bloc of developing countries, led by Brazil, India, and China, changes the dynamic of trade talks by demanding radical cuts in agricultural subsidies by developed countries.
• July 2003. China faces claims that it is undervaluing its currency in order to unfairly support its huge trade surplus with its trading partners, particularly the USA.
• November 2001. The WTO launches the Doha round of talks on trade liberalisation. France objects to an agenda item calling for the elimination of agricultural subsidies.
• February 2001. The WTOs agricultural committee meets in Geneva. The Cairns group of 18 agricultural producers including the USA and Australia call for an end to all export subsidies, while the EU, Japan, South Korea, and others want to include non-trade concerns such as the environment. India and others argue that the rich countries trade barriers should be scrapped, whilst poor countries should have the right to protect rural livelihoods and ensure food security.
• December 1999. WTO talks in Seattle, USA, collapse as the USA refuses to negotiate over Section 503, the US legislation of 1974 that sets unilateral trade retaliation in cases of alleged export dumping.
• September 1999. At a meeting of the IMF in Washington DC, finance ministers and central bank heads form a group comprising the G-7 (Group of Seven) and major developing economies. Membership includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the EU, the IMF, and the World Bank.
• January 1995. The WTO is inaugurated as the successor organisation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
• December 1993. The Uruguay round of trade talks concludes with a signed agreement, leading to the reduction of 123 tariffs, reinforcing intellectual property rights, liberalising access for textiles and clothing from developing countries, and creating the WTO.
• March 1992. The Uruguay round becomes deadlocked over agricultural exports and farm subsidies; the situation is aggravated by a US proposal to exempt its key service sectors from free trade rules.
• December 1990. The Uruguay round stalls over the insistence by representatives of the USA and 14 major agricultural exporters (including Australia, Canada, and Latin American countries) that the European Community (EC) cuts farm support by 75 per cent and export subsidies by 90 per cent.
• April 1989. A mid-term review of the Uruguay round closes after reaching agreements on agriculture; textiles and clothing; safeguards; and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, including trade in counterfeit goods.
• September 1986. Representatives of nearly 100 industrial and developing countries start trade-freeing negotiations in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
• July 1986. The WTO extends a textile agreement after the USA creates controversy over its imposition of country-of-origin labeling requirements that some viewed as protectionist.
• July 1981. The UN agrees on a series of measures to promote industrial expansion of developing countries including agricultural allowances.
• April 1979. The Tokyo round of trade liberalisation talks, aimed at lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers, is signed by certain industrial countries after being dominated by US-EU disagreements. Developing countries claim that they are being neglected in the formulation of policy and propose that the final outcome of the negotiations should only be adopted if it is endorsed by a large majority of participants.
• September 1973. At a ministerial meeting of the GATT, in Tokyo, the European Economic Community (EEC) issues a statement describing its stance toward developing countries. Depending on the level and potential for development, the EEC states, countries will receive different concessions, covering different products, and various degrees of reciprocity from developed countries.
• August 1971. The USA ends convertibility of the US dollar, allowing other currencies to float.
• May 1967. The Kennedy round of trade negotiations concludes. Negotiators from some 50 non-communist countries agree to cut their tariffs by an average 35 per cent by 1972. The agreement includes reductions on 62 tariffs and puts into place new anti-dumping rules.
• January 1962. The EEC sets up its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
• June 1962. The Dillon round cuts US$4.9 billion of world trade tariffs on items in which the EEC and the USA control 80 per cent of world trade.
• May 1959. Non-EEC European trade officials from seven countries set up the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).
• January 1958. The EEC is established by the Treaty of Rome. Charter members are Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
• October 1947. The first General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland, to reduce tariffs on about one-fifth of the worlds trade.

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