The Doha Round and Globalization’s Missing Middle

The Doha Round meeting of the WTO is still weeks away but observers are already writing its epitaph. A former senior trade official of Singapore envisages an unsatisfactory conclusion to the trade negotiations in Hong Kong this December, mainly because of its likely failure to reach agreements on agricultural and services liberalization. But there may not be any clear cut “villain” responsible for the stalemate. On each issue confronting the WTO, both developed and developing nations will argue narrow, self-serving points of view. French and EU intractability when it comes to agriculture is to be expected, though it has grown more injurious over time. Then there is opposition to agricultural trade liberalization on the part of Japan and South Korea. Developing countries themselves might be pursuing “distorted” policies often directed towards other developing nations. On the other hand, while developed countries have spoken of the need for liberalization of the services sector, particularly in developing countries, they remain reticent to open themselves to a labor influx from those same developing countries, even in industries that are short on domestic labor. The author identifies the uneven effects of global trade liberalization as even “more problematic.” He highlights the emerging “squeeze on middle income jobs in the developed countries and on middle income developing countries,” pointing out that these “have been groups within countries and in the international system at the forefront of globalization.” The author concludes that WTO’s current woes do not stem from particular troublemakers or a considered opposition to or neglect for the interests of developing countries on the part of the developed world, but rather from a focus on individual interests across the boards. – YaleGlobal