WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/3 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5940) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
UNITED STATES 
 
Statement by HE Mr Robert Portman
 
United States Trade Representative  
   Thank you Chairwoman Miller and I would like to  thank our hosts – the people of this vibrant 
and welcoming host city.  Hong Kong is the perfect setting for this historic meeting.  By embracing 
free trade, Hong Kong has become one of the worl d's great cities and its people enjoy one of the 
highest standards of living in the world.   Our setting should inspire us to succeed at the job we have been sent here to do – raise the 
living standards of all of the world's people – par ticularly those in poor and developing countries – by 
unleashing the power of more open trade. 
 
 We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity  to create economic opportunities, alleviate 
poverty and bond nations to each other in the peaceful  pursuit of prosperity.  This is the basis of 
President Bush's vision he presented in his speech befo re the United Nations in September.  There is a 
lot at stake.  We cannot afford to fail. 
 
 The United States has come to Hong Kong determ ined to solidify and build on the gains we 
have made since the July 2004 framework.  This week, we have been reaching out to our trade 
partners on issues from cotton to fishing subsidies.  We have been prodding others to go further in 
opening their markets and we are calling for more i nvestment in development linked to trade.  Our 
strong hope and desire is that, with  hard work, we can still conclude an agreement by the end of 2006. 
 
 And I sense a growing consensus among WTO Me mbers, informed by economic analysis and 
their own experience, is that more open trade can  deliver tangible benefits to our economies and 
citizens.  We must continue our pursuit of knoc king down trade-distorting subsidies and expanding 
market access in agricultural and industrial goods and services. 
 
 More than two months ago, in a bid to jumpstar t talks in advance of this Ministerial Meeting, 
the United States put forward a bold and comprehens ive proposal to eliminate all agricultural export 
subsidies by 2010, and substantially reduce and ev entually eliminate trade-distorting domestic 
subsidies.  Most importantly, especially for the de veloping world, we called for greater market access, 
meaning deep cuts in tariffs and the elimination of quotas. 
  I believe the proposal energized the talks at a crucial stage.  Unfortunately, that energy has 
now dissipated while we wait for a small number of key Members who refuse to agree to a balanced 
package in agriculture.  
 As we gather here, I must tell you I believe there remains only one way to break the current 
deadlock.  It requires a convergence on reducing tariffs  in the relatively protected agricultural sector 
worldwide.  Again, I join other countries in th e developed and developing world in calling for our WT/MIN(05)/ST/3 
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 trading partners in Europe to agree to a global formula that truly meets the Doha requirement of 
substantial improvement in market access.   At the same time, as we make progress on a bala nced package in agricu lture, we must also 
agree to further reductions in non-agricultural tariffs and barriers to increase tr ade in services.  After 
all, manufactured goods account for 75 per cent of global commerce.  What is more, progress in this 
area is also important to developing countries, recall the 70 per cent of the duties developing countries pay go to other developing countries.   We cannot afford to let our generation's opport unity slip.  Here is what I propose we commit 
to doing this week . 
  First, in agriculture, any forward progress on market access would be welcomed.  But if that is not possible, we should set a date for the agreemen t we have already made to  eliminate all forms of 
export subsidies. 
 
 Second, in non-agricultural market access, we should agree to a structure that adheres to the 
principle that benefits flow from cutting higher tari ffs the most.  The so-called Swiss formula – with 
two coefficients – would establish an effective way to cut these tariffs.   Third, in the area of trade in services, we must challenge each other to offer better quality 
market access commitments – particularly in key sectors such as financial services, 
telecommunications, computer-related services, express delivery, distribution, and energy services.  
And this week we should set a new deadline for ta bling of revised – and greatly improved – offers. 
  Fourth, although we may not achieve all we had hoped for this week, let us set another 
deadline to keep the pressure on.  We should not l eave without setting a date – early next year – to 
come together again to break the deadlock so our negotiators can complete work by the end of 2006. 
  Finally, we must be proactive in giving l east-developed countries development assistance and 
support trade capacity building to complement the progress we are aiming to make in opening markets and unleashing trade. 
 
 The United States is already the largest donor of  aid for trade in the world.  We provided 
$1.3 billion to those efforts this year – up 46 per cent from last year.  Our spending on trade-related 
assistance has more than doubled in the last five years.  
 Over that five-year period, we have provided a cumulative total of $4.5 billion in grants, not 
loans, to ensure countries build the governmental  and physical infrastructure needed to fully 
participate in and benefit from the global trading system.   We believe in aid for trade and we believe we must do more.  To put our resources behind 
that sentiment and to help make this Minister ial Meeting a success, I am announcing today the 
United States will double its contribution for aid for trade – from $1.3 billion in 2005 to $2.7 billion 
annually by 2010.  We will continue to urge Congress to pass the President's budget requests and 
developing and least-developed countries to pr ioritize trade in their development plans. 
  However, I must underscore that these funds , and the additional money I announced today, 
must go hand-in-hand with market access expansion a nd the elimination of trade-distorting subsidies. 
  There have been some ups and downs in the last  five years, which is to be expected when 
nearly 150 nations grapple with complex issues th at sometimes have profound political and economic 
implications for the people we represent.  But the time to stop postponing the toughest work has  WT/MIN(05)/ST/3 
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 arrived.  I believe either we move  forward or we risk moving backward  toward protectionism that will 
stunt economic growth and harm the developing world the most.   So we commit ourselves to action this week, to  work with vision, political courage and hope.  
In doing so we can make history and meet the promise of Doha. 
 
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