Although top leaders from the Group of Eight fired themselves up in late July to get a new round of global trade liberalization negotiations started by yearend, their agreement appears likely to fizzle out.
One-and-a-half months after the G8 summit in Okinawa Prefecture, no sign of progress has emerged toward launching the new round, leaving Japanese trade officials even more pessimistic than before about the G8 goal.
In a communique issued at the end of their three-day summit in Okinawa Prefecture, the G8 leaders said, "We agree to intensify our close and fruitful cooperation in order to try together with other WTO members to launch such a round during the course of this year."