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December 13, 2005
CALL TO ACTION
To the Trade Ministers of All WTO Members:
The American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha) brings together more than 200 leading U.S. companies, associations and other organizations dedicated to achieving ambitious results from this current round of multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO known as the Doha Round.
A successful Doha Round could boost the world economy by $300 billion in just ten years. History demonstrates that countries that open themselves to trade grow the fastest and benefit the most from further trade liberalization. WTO members cannot afford to miss this opportunity to extend the gains from trade to all corners of the globe, including the world's poorest citizens-there is too much at stake.
Your discussions this week should seek to infuse optimism, creativity, and a renewed sense of commitment and urgency to the Doha Round. A Hong Kong Declaration must reflect your leadership in ushering in the final phase of negotiations next year.
The U.S. business community does not accept the premise that expectations must be lowered for the outcome of Hong Kong. Delaying the difficult decisions required to move the talks forward could jeopardize the prospects of concluding this round by the end of 2006 which we believe is realistic and should remain the collective goal of WTO members.
ABCDoha calls upon WTO Ministers to:
- Demonstrate leadership in advancing the Doha Round. All WTO Members must engage constructively and make a contribution if the Round is to succeed.
- Pursue a balanced but ambitious framework for further negotiations. Done right, the greatest gains from this round will accrue to developing countries, but only meaningful and comprehensive liberalization will get us there.
- Produce credible and tangible results from the Hong Kong Ministerial by setting clearly-defined goals for each area under negotiation and committing to an aggressive timetable for conclusion of talks by the end of 2006.
- Pledge your collective commitment as trade ministers to maintain a high overall level of ambition for the Doha Round which must deliver significant new commercial opportunities for agriculture, manufacturers, and service providers alike.
Hong Kong is an important milestone in these historic negotiations. Now is the time for serious action on the part of every WTO member if we are to fulfill the promise of the Doha Round.
Action now will bring the benefits sooner to WTO member countries who want to grow their economies and improve the lives of their citizens today.
ABCDoha CALL TO ACTION TO WTO MINISTERS is supported by:
| Abbott Laboratories | Consumers for World Trade |
| Advanced Medical Technology Association | CropLife America |
| Advanced Micro Devices | DaimlerChrysler |
| Altria Group, Inc. | Decision Leaders, LLC |
| The Aluminum Association | Detroit Regional Chamber |
| American Apparel and Footwear Association | Diageo North America |
| American Association of Exporters and Importers | Distilled Spirits Council of the United States |
| American Bearing Manufacturers Association | The Dow Chemical Company |
| American BioIndustry Alliance | DTB Associates, LLP |
| American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union | Eastman Kodak Company |
| American Chemistry Council | eBags.com |
| American Council of Life Insurers | William D. Eberle, Former Special Trade Representative |
| American Electronics Association | EDS |
| American Farm Bureau Federation | Electronic Industries Alliance |
| American Forest & Paper Association | Eli Lilly and Company |
| American Insurance Association | Emergency Committee for American Trade |
| American International Automobile Dealers Association | Emerson |
| American International Group, Inc. | Express Delivery & Logistics Association |
| American Luggage Dealers Association | FedEx Corporation |
| American Meat Institute | Fonterra USA |
| American Petroleum Institute | Fontheim International, LLC |
| Amgott Mitchell | Ford Motor Company |
| Archer Daniels Midland Company | The Franklin Partnership, LLP |
| Association of Equipment Manufacturers | Fujitsu Limited |
| Association for Manufacturing Technology | Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association |
| AT&T | General Electric |
| Auto Trade Policy Council | General Motors Corporation |
| Bankers' Association for Finance and Trade | The Global Business Dialogue |
| Bayer Corporation | Goldman, Sachs & Co. |
| Bechtel Corporation | Grocery Manufacturers Association |
| BellSouth | Hershey Foods |
| Bison Gear & Engineering Corporation | Hewlett-Packard Company |
| The Boeing Company | IBM Corporation |
| The Bretton Woods Committee | Information Technology Association of America |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | Intel Corporation |
| Bryan Cave LLP | International Association of Drilling Contractors |
| Business Roundtable | International Business-Government Counsellors, Inc. |
| Business Software Alliance | International Dairy Foods Association |
| C&M International | International Paper |
| California Chamber of Commerce | IPC-Printed Circuit Board and Electronics Assembly Industries |
| Campbell Soup Company | Information Technology Industries Council |
| Cargill Incorporated | Jockey International, Inc. |
| Caterpillar, Inc. | Johnson & Johnson |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | JP Morgan Chase |
| Citigroup | Kissinger McLarty Associates |
| Coalition of Service Industries | Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association |
| Consumer Electronics Association | Starbucks Coffee Company |
| Kruesi Center for Innovation | Sun Microsystems, Inc. |
| Liz Claiborne | Sweetener Users Association |
| Manchester Trade Ltd. | TechNet |
| Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America | Technology CEO Council |
| Mars Incorporated | Telecommunications Industry Association |
| Mattel, Inc. | Tew Cardenas, LLP |
| The McGraw-Hill Companies | Texas Instruments |
| MeadWestvaco Corporation | Time Warner Inc. |
| Merck & Company, Inc. | Toyota Motor North America, Inc. |
| MetLife | TRADEWINS LLC |
| Microsoft Corporation | Travel Goods Association |
| Monsanto Company | TWIRIS International |
| Morgan Stanley | Tyco International, Inc. |
| Motion Picture Association of America | United Parcel Service |
| Motorola Inc. | United States Chamber of Commerce |
| MWW Group | United States Council for International Business |
| National Association of Manufacturers | United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce |
| National Cattlemen's Beef Association | United Technologies Corporation |
| National Center for APEC | USA-ITA |
| National Electrical Manufacturers Association | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
| National Foreign Trade Council | Warnaco Inc. |
| National Oilseed Processors Association | The Washington Center |
| National Pork Producers Council | Wheat Export Trade Education Committee |
| National Retail Federation | Whirlpool Corporation |
| New York Life Insurance Company | White & Case, LLP |
| NIKE Inc. |
World Perspectives |
| Novartis Corporation | |
| OnPoint Advocacy | |
| Oracle Corporation | |
| Panasonic Corporation of North America | |
| PepsiCo | |
| Pet Food Institute | |
| Pfizer Inc. | |
| Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America | |
| POPAI "The Global Association for Marketing at-Retail" | |
| The Procter & Gamble Company | |
| Puerto Rico Trade | |
| QUALCOMM Inc. | |
| Quality Float Works, Inc. | |
| Retail Industry Leaders Association | |
| RiddellTseng | |
| Samuels International Associates, Inc. | |
| Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, PA | |
| Sara Lee Branded Apparel | |
| SAS | |
| Securities Industry Association | |
| Semiconductor Industry Association | |
| Sharp Global Partners, Ltd. | |
| Skyway Luggage Co. | |
| Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. | |
| Sony Corporation |
