CONGRESSIONAL RIVALS UNITED IN BLAMING CHINA AND INDIA

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By James Politi in Washington  
Friday, August 01, 2008
  

As news of the collapse of the Doha round talks rippled across Washington on Tuesday afternoon, there was a rare moment of partisan unity on US trade policy.

Republicans and Democrats, who have been feuding over the passage of bilateral trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea this year, both agreed that China and India were to blame for the failure of the talks and that US negotiators were right to make no further concessions.

"No deal is better than a bad deal," said Chuck Grassley, the Iowa senator and senior Republican on the Senate finance committee, which has jurisdiction over trade. "If India, China and other advanced developing countries want the benefits of expanded trade, they have to abandon protectionism and negotiate in good faith," Mr Grassley added.

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The question now is whether India and China may face a US congressional backlash, with critics of further trade liberalisation hardening their views and supporters of closer ties feeling disappointed.

Efforts by lawmakers to press ahead with legislation designed to prevent alleged Chinese currency manipulation, which have stalled as the renminbi has appreciated, could gather momentum if politicians from both sides of the aisle feel more strongly that China is not doing its part in opening up its markets to the US.

A second area that could face additional scrutiny is India's participation in the US preference programme, which expires at the end of this year and gives certain developing countries duty-free access to US markets.