Progress in the Doha Round has consistently fallen short of even the most pessimistic expectations. Four years of talks in Geneva have provided the necessary technical basis for liberalization agreements, but key countries remain unwilling to make politically difficult choices necessary for progress. For example:
• The European Union's offer to cut tariffs that restrict its imports of agricultural goods is far below what the United States and other agricultural exporters are demanding.
• The United States for its part is reluctant to cut its subsidies to its own farmers.
• Major developing countries such as Brazil and India are resisting European Union and U.S. demands for big cuts in their import duties on  manufactured goods.
This triangular deadlock continues, with no indication of any imminent breakthrough. Almost the only noteworthy Doha development in the four months since WTO ministers met in Hong Kong and set the April deadline has been President Bush's apparent downgrading of the Doha Round by moving his very capable chief negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, to other duties.

If, as many observers argued, the Doha round on trade liberalization was on life support before highly regarded U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman left last week to become White House budget director, it is hard to imagine what can be done to resuscitate trade negotiations now. (...) The political obstacles lined up to block an agreement in the United States pale compared to what confronts European negotiators and politicians in their homelands. If French President Jacques Chirac caved into the pressure from unions and student protesters over relatively minor reforms in France's labor law, imagine how quickly French nerve would collapse when Mr. Chirac or his successor is confronted by French farmers taken off the dole. Italy's political problems are equally daunting. With his political capital reduced, President Bush has apparently decided to cut his losses and toss the Doha failure on the heap next to Social Security reform and tax reform.

Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, accused the US of lacking realism on agriculture, while the US trade representative's office said it wished the EU would put the same energy into the negotiations as it did in finger-pointing.

The anti-dumping amendment lets US firms raise a levy from competitors' goods which it deems to be too cheap. The amendment was ruled illegal over a year ago and repealed in February, but US firms are expected to benefit from it for a further two years. This latest penalty brings the total extra tariffs imposed upon the US to $36.9m. Peter Mandelson - the EU trade commissioner - has said that while the trade dispute has been resolved, US firms are still receiving payments. (...) Since the Byrd amendment was passed in 2000, manufacturers in the metals and food businesses among others, have been the recipients of billions of dollars in payments.

In a statement, the EU said the Byrd Amendment "has been a long-running irritant in the U.S.-EU trade relationship," but it added "that the huge bulk of EU-U.S. trade is trouble-free."

It will help EU winemakers to build on their current success in the US, which is by far the EU's largest export market. Annual EU wine exports to the US are worth more than 2 billion euros, around 40 percent of EU exports in terms of value. This agreement provides a clear demonstration that the US and the EU can resolve important and complex issues through bilateral negotiations and both sides are committed to doing so in the future.