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On June 1, the German Marshall Fund, in partnership with the Committee for Economic Development (CED), hosted a roundtable discussion on the challenges facing world trade negotiations in the run-up to the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong. The luncheon event featured guest speakers James D. Robinson, III, former CEO of American Express and CED Board member, and Jean-François Boittin, minister counselor for economic and commercial affairs at the French embassy in Washington, DC.

Mr. Robinson began his remarks by criticizing political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic for failing on trade. He observed that the Doha Round is stalled, the United States and the European Union are mired in the Boeing–Airbus dispute, and CAFTA is being held hostage by the sugar lobby. Speaking on Doha, Mr. Robinson highlighted the potential for sustainable growth through cooperative action among the world’s richest nations. He warned, however, that a failed negotiation would not result in the status quo, but rather a regression on global growth. A lack of consensus on Doha would increase protectionism and drive bipartisan groups to push for tariffs against emerging economies like China, he said.

Echoing a statement endorsed by five former U.S. trade representatives, three former presidents, and previous Treasury secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, Mr. Robinson called for the United States to “unilaterally and without conditions” eliminate virtually all trade barriers. The United States, he said, should “go first on trade” by capping subsidies and phasing out tariffs. Recognizing that increased trade does not come without cost, Mr. Robinson also proposed that current policies be replaced with proactive strategies like employment training to reduce the perceived threat of globalization to jobs back at home. Trade, he reiterated, is the driving force behind global prosperity — the single most important tool for lifting the world’s poor out of poverty.

Mr. Boittin responded by urging lower expectations for transatlantic leadership on Doha. While many poor countries look to the United States and Europe to bring about a more equitable resolution to trade disputes, there is often a roar of public disapproval over U.S. and European influence at the table. Furthermore, he explained, in neither Europe nor the United States is there much support for globalization, as can be seen in the French non on the EU Constitution — when asked to make the choice, the public most often falls on the side of restriction over expansion.
In addition to weak U.S.–European engagement on trade reform, Mr. Boittin also pointed to a lack of leadership by developing countries that benefit from global economic growth. Brazil, for example, has doubled agricultural exports over the past five years because of its increasing competitiveness, but has refused to lower industrial tariffs to other countries’ manufactured goods. Progress on trade negotiations, he suggested, will require shared leadership among both developed and developing countries.

In the subsequent audience discussion, a central theme was the absence of corporate leadership on these issues, as evidenced in recent newspaper and magazine articles with titles like “CEOs M.I.A.” and “Where are the CEO Statesmen?” Charles Kolb, CED president, admitted that the business community has been reticent in the wake of stock market decline and major corporate scandals, but was hopeful about trade and development as areas where business leaders can meaningfully re-engage with public policy.