“The US has not offered much and there is still a long way to go,” a senior official associated with the current round of trade talks in Geneva said here.

The American negotiators offered to accept a limit of $16.4 billion a year on trade distorting subsidies in talks on agriculture, which began from September 3 and have been adjourned till end of first week of October.

Adamant stand
Earlier, the US had maintained an adamant stand on retaining the subsidy limit below $22.5 billion per year. The fresh round of talks began after the WTO came out with separate drafts on agriculture and industrial products.

The proposals on agriculture, considered to be a compromise formula, were mooted by New Zealand Ambassador Crawford Falconer. India had described these proposals as good basis for negotiations. However, the latest US proposal is believed to have not gone well with Indian negotiators who find that the cap on subsidies by the US does not cover many items. Officials said the Chair on agricultural negotiations is expected to refine his first draft around October 8.  Significantly Brazil, a key member of G-20 grouping along with India, has welcomed the fresh US offers on agriculture. “It is a good step forward,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim stated on September 21.

US President George Bush is likely to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in New York next week.

With the US making forward movement, it along with the EU, expects developing countries to make concessions in opening the market for industrial goods under Non-Agricultural Market Access. They want India and other developing nations to reduce the import tariff on industrial goods to a level between 19 and 23 per cent. However, India is not likely to oblige them to that extent.