Revisiting Doha with Obama's Policy Shifts

By Beck Barnes|April 2, 2009

It appears that after some months of deliberation, world leaders have finally convinced U.S. President Barack Obama to revisit the Doha Round trade talks. This time, the push for trade liberalization will convene in Italy in June, according to Reuters.

While the news comes as a relief for those hoping to see a trade deal reached soon, the fact that the Obama administration’s first dealings with Doha won’t take place until well into the summer is a bit of a let down. In the days following Obama’s election victory in November of 2008, Doha negotiators expressed interest in reconvening the trade talks in early 2009. Regardless, at this point the fact that negotiators can agree on a time and place for the talks is encouraging.

What’s less encouraging for those hoping to see the U.S. relinquish its cotton subsidies is the initial reaction from the U.S. Congress to Obama’s agriculture policies. Just after taking office, Obama laid out a preliminary plan to quell the lingering economic recession. Of all the budget cuts he proposed, perhaps none were as universally condemned as his alterations to the 2008 Farm Bill. Those alterations would, presumably, begin slicing away at government subsidies for the country’s cotton growers.

“In a time of economic uncertainty, it doesn’t make sense to put 30 years of risk protection progress in further jeopardy,” said U.S. Senator Pat Roberts in defense of the Farm Bill. Roberts is not alone in his opposition to Obama’s proposed agriculture budget cuts.

It’s clear that Obama will have an uphill climb in convincing those in Congress to support his Doha propositions. In that sense, it is a good thing that the Doha talks will wait until June to be revisited. If Obama has displayed a skill for anything, it has been his ability to reach out to those in Congress. Perhaps in two months time he can present a U.S. platform that will lend itself towards striking a deal.