GENEVA/WASHINGTON: The United States faces potential trade sanctions from Canada and Mexico after the WTO ruled it had failed to bring its meat labelling regulations fully in line with international fair trading rules. The WTO said the US had not done enough to change its labelling rules, requiring retailers such as grocery stores to list the country of origin on meat, after it lost an earlier WTO challenge. Canada and Mexico called on the US to repeal the rules and said they were prepared to retaliate if needed against US exports. Previous estimates have put the cost of tariffs as high as $2bn. “Canada and Mexico will remain vigilant to ensure the harm generated by the protectionist ... policy is brought to an end and that international trade commitments are respected,” the two countries’ trade and agriculture ministers said in a statement.Crisis talks on as India gets tough
GENEVA: India made no sign of dropping its veto on a global trade deal yesterday, forcing WTO chief Roberto Azevedo to announce a week of talks to try to chart the future direction of the Geneva-based body. Some diplomats had said a WTO meeting yesterday was the last chance for India to let a global trade deal go through or other countries would abandon the global talks and split off into smaller groups instead, a development that many experts think would undermine the WTO. WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said he had never seen a similar situation at the 19-year-old WTO, which has been dogged by “impasse” in trade talks for a decade. Reuters
