In a major change of policy, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush voiced readiness Thursday to remove the issues of workers' rights and the environment from a new round of trade liberalization talks the World Trade Organization hopes to launch this year.
Differences over antidumping rules and the linkage of labor and environmental issues with trade liberalization were among major pitfalls that tripped up the WTO's previous efforts to launch a new trade round in 1999.
Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick indicated the Bush administration does not plan to take up labor and environmental issues together at global trade negotiations.
"Please consider this reality: It really will not help working men and women at home and abroad -- or environmental causes -- to paralyze trade negotiations with cumbersome limits or sanctions or pressures," Zoellick said.