Reuters sets the agenda in trade talks

When the United States decided to drop its usual discreet no comment diplomacy in the Doha round and negotiate in public it chose Reuters as its mouthpiece. An interview on June 24 in Geneva with US ambassador to the World Trade Organization Michael Punke revealed Washington’s intense frustration at the reluctance of China and other big emerging economies to respond to U.S. calls for substantive negotiations in the WTO`s long-running Doha round to open up world trade. The exclusive comments, packed with detail about the negotiations, were the result of careful contact building and coverage of the story which meant that Reuters was the first call when the U.S. had something to announce. Two days later that frustration was among the drivers of a decision at the G20 summit in Toronto to drop a commitment to complete the Doha trade round this year and push ahead instead with bilateral and regional deals.