The State of the Trading System, the WTO and the Doha Round

Abstract

Against the background of last-ditch efforts by the United States, the European Communities, Brazil and India meeting in Potsdam to drive the Doha Round to a timely conclusion prior to the expiry of US trade negotiating authority, an international group of expert analysts of the trade scene gathered from June 17-18, 2007, in Waterloo, Ontario, for an informal discussion of the state of the international trade system in general and the prospects for the Doha Development Agenda in particular. The roundtable discussion was cosponsored by the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the International Development Research Centre and the Canadian Institute for International Affairs. This note is a thematic summary of the discussions. As these were held under Chatham House rules, no attribution is given.

Keywords: Doha Development Agenda, WTO, trade negotiations

JEL Classification: F13