All Eyes on Hong Kong

December 12, 2005

Stakes were high as the world's trade negotiators gathered in Hong Kong last week.

Free trade could help 500 million people escape poverty and inject $200 billion annually into the economies of developing countries, according to CGD/IIE trade expert William R. Cline. With the risk of a failed Doha Round of talks hanging over their heads, rich country representatives sought an agreement on opening markets. Generous agriculture protection has been a sticking point, with the US, EU, and Japan unable to strike a deal.

Four new CGD publications help make sense of it all:

• Delivering on the Doha Agenda: Are the Proposed Cuts in EU and US Agricultural Subsidies Real?, by Kimberly Elliott
• Rich Country Tariffs and Subsidies: Let's Do the Numbers, by David Roodman
• Looking for the Devil in the Doha Agricultural Negotiations, by Kimberly Elliott
• Achieving a Grand Bargain in the Doha Round, by William R. Cline

Also:

• Download presentation slides from the CGD event, Beyond Hong Kong: Is the Doha Development Round Doomed?
• Hear Kimberly Elliott discuss the WTO meetings on WAMU's nationally syndicated Kojo Nnamdi Show on December 13, 2005.
• Get 25% off featured CGD books, including Trade Policy and Global Poverty by William R. Cline. Order now: discount available this month only.