Global trade talks deadlock on farm products

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2006 | by David J. Lynch

WASHINGTON -- Talks aimed at an ambitious global trade deal collapsed Monday as negotiators from key trading partners proved unable to compromise on agricultural commerce.

Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, suspended the talks after almost five years of haggling. "I cannot hide the sad truth: We are in dire straits," Lamy said.

Deadlock came little more than one week after leaders at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, pledged to reinvigorate the bargaining. The breakdown makes it extremely unlikely that a Doha Round deal, named for the Qatari capital where the talks began, can be signed before President Bush's authority to negotiate expires in July 2007.

Monday, negotiators turned to their next task: apportioning blame for...