The United States said on Sunday modest progress had been made in world trade talks, but a breakthrough in cutting farm tariffs was badly needed to reach a deal by the end of 2006, according to Reuters. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman made the comments in an apparent reference to the European Union's refusal to open its long-protected agricultural markets any further. Earlier, the 149 member countries of the World Trade Organisation saved the long-running talks from collapse with an interim deal to end farm export subsidies by 2013 and open rich nation markets a bit wider to the poorest nations. "Until and unless we see a breakthrough on reducing tariffs ... we will not be able to see the agriculture negotiations come together," Portman told Reuters in an interview. "Without that we won't be able to see the whole round come together," said Portman. Ministers from the WTO member nations expressed relief after six days of negotiations that they had averted a repeat of failed conferences in Seattle in 1999 and in Cancun in 2003. But they described the Hong Kong pact as disappointing and said it would be tough to wrap up the four-year-old talks by the end of 2006, after which U.S. President George W. Bush may lose his Congressional authority to negotiate trade deals. --More 2333 Local Time 2033 GMT
