STATEMENT

Contact: Tracy Cullen
(202) 974-5282
Email: tcullen@socplas.org

SPI STATEMENT ON SUSPENSION OF DOHA ROUND TALKS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 24, 2006) – On July 24, 2006, the leader of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Director-General Pascal Lamy, formally suspended the Doha Round of trade negotiations. A weekend of intensive meetings among trade officials from Australia, Brazil, the European Union, India, Japan, and the United States did not bridge the different positions between trading partners on the appropriate level of cuts in subsidies and tariffs that should apply to agricultural goods. Other key trading partners did not match the United States’ willingness to make meaningful cuts for agricultural products. Consequently, U.S. trade officials concluded that the offers on the table from other WTO members would not lead to real market access for U.S. farm goods, and therefore, supported Lamy’s decision. The Doha Round will be suspended indefinitely, but the Bush Administration has stated that it will remain committed to the WTO system and will ultimately seek a successful conclusion of the talks.

William R. Carteaux, SPI President and CEO, issued the following statement:

“The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) congratulates U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns for safeguarding the interests of U.S. manufacturers, farmers, and workers. They lived up to their pledge that they would not bring home a bad deal for U.S. goods and services.

“As we have repeatedly stressed during the course of these negotiations, our objective has and remains to be real market access for U.S. plastics industry goods. Too many of our products are subject to relatively high tariffs, particularly in advanced developing countries, such as Brazil and India. In contrast, the U.S. tariffs on plastics imports are the lowest in the world. Our trade negotiators ensured that this would not be another round where the U.S. makes deep cuts in industrial tariffs but other key trading partners keep the status quo.

“SPI remains commitment to seeing these talks to the end. We will continue to work with our industry counterparts in key countries to show how the Doha Development Agenda benefits plastics manufacturers worldwide.”

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Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI’s members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.3 million workers and provides nearly $345 billion in annual shipments.

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