D/NSA PRICE URGES GOS TO SUPPORT AMBITIOUS WTO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000076

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DEPUTY NSA DANIEL PRICE AND DIRECTOR MICHAEL SMART

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2018
TAGS: ETRD ECON EFIN SN
SUBJECT: D/NSA PRICE URGES GOS TO SUPPORT AMBITIOUS WTO
SERVICES MARKET ACCESS


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel L. Shields. Reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Assistant to the President and Deputy
National Security Advisor (D/NSA) for International
Economic Affairs Daniel Price pressed Singapore to speak
out for an ambitious World Trade Organization (WTO) agenda
on services during his January 15 meetings. Singapore
officials countered that the WTO should remain focused on
concluding the NAMA (non-agricultural market access) and
agricultural texts and not immediately push for an
ambitious agreement on services. Minister for Trade and
Industry LIM Hng Kiang said that Singapore supported the
view of WTO Director Pascal Lamy that no new agenda items
should be addressed until after the modalities for NAMA and
agriculture texts are finalized. D/NSA Price pushed back
on the need for services to be included in an agreement on
NAMA and agriculture modalities. Minister Lim indicated that
if Lamy tells Singapore it would be helpful for services to
be included in such agreement, Singapore will speak up in
favor. Foreign Minister George Yeo said he was "disturbed"
by what he claimed was a change in the U.S. position to
elevate the priority placed on services. He questioned how
the Doha Round could be concluded this year in the context of
the U.S. presidential election campaign and the continued
intransigence of key WTO members such as Brazil and India.
GOS officials praised U.S. plans to join negotiations on
investment and financial services with the "P-4" group of
countries, noting that this decision sends a strong signal to
the region about the level of U.S. commitment. End summary.


2. (SBU) D/NSA Daniel Price visited Singapore January
14-15 to discuss modalities for concluding the WTO Doha
round, regional architecture and related economic and trade
issues. In separate meetings with FM Yeo, Minister Lim,
Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnum, and MTI
Permanent Secretary Peter Ong, he urged that Singapore
speak up in support of an ambitious agenda on services
market access. He also held discussions with
Singapore-based U.S. business representatives and financial
economists, and held a press conference attended by local
and foreign media.

Ambitious Outcomes Needed
--------------


3. (C) D/NSA Price emphasized in each of his meetings the
President's commitment to conclude an ambitious Doha
agreement this year and Doha's importance for maintaining
the stability of the international trading system. He
called for ambitious outcomes in the three pillars of the WTO
negotiations -- agriculture, NAMA (non-agricultural market
access),and services. Support for Doha in the United States
is contingent on a strong services market access package.
Price expressed appreciation for Singapore's leadership of
the "Middle Ground" group of countries with respect to NAMA,
but said that the United States is surprised and disappointed
by Singapore's lack of support for the chair of the services
negotiating group to issue a text that calls on members to
make commitments that: 1) close the gap between bound
commitments and current levels of market access and national
treatment; and 2) provide new market access in sectors where
significant trade impediments remain. Calling the lack of
progress in
services negotiations "unacceptable," D/NSA Price urged
the GOS to work with us and other like-minded members to
insist that an ambitious services text be included in an
agreement on agriculture and NAMA modalities.

NAMA and Agriculture Now, Services Later
--------------


4. (C) Minister Lim disagreed that now is the time to push
for more robust services market access, which he likened to
a potential "spanner in the works." The first priority
should be to conclude an agreement on NAMA and agriculture
modalities. Minister Lim recalled that WTO Director General
Pascal Lamy had told him during the December 2007 UN Climate
Change Conference in Bali that he did not want to introduce
"new" elements such as services until after agreement is

SINGAPORE 00000076 002 OF 002


reached on NAMA and agriculture. To do otherwise would
create demands for additional agenda items and further
delays. Minister Lim said that Singapore supports Director
General Lamy's position. D/NSA Price clarified that the
services commitments under discussion are not new. (Note:
For example, Annex C of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration
calls on members to make commitments at existing levels of
market access and non-discriminatory treatment. End note.)
He urged Singapore to be an advocate for an ambitious
services paper. Minister Lim indicated that if Lamy tells
Singapore it would be helpful to have a services paper as
part of the agreement on agriculture and NAMA modalities,
Singapore will speak up.


5. (C) FM Yeo said he was "disturbed" by what he
characterized as a change in the United States' position to
elevate the priority placed on services. Like Minister Lim,
he encouraged continued focus on NAMA and agriculture. He
questioned our ability to conclude the Doha Round this year,
observing that the U.S. Congress was preoccupied in an
election year and appeared increasingly suspicious of trade
liberalization. From a global perspective, there were other
reasons to be pessimistic. Brazil has much to gain from an
agreement that reduces agricultural tariffs and subsidies;
however, it is reluctant to break ranks with India. FM Yeo
was highly doubtful that India would make the concessions
necessary to reach agreement, citing as a parallel example
the difficulties ASEAN has encountered in negotiating an FTA
with India. FM Yeo made it clear, however, that while he has
views on these issues, he is not responsible for them. That
responsibility lies with Minister Lim, he noted.

U.S. Engagement and the P-4 FTA
--------------


6. (C) Minister Lim emphasized the importance of U.S.
engagement in Southeast Asia and in its regional
architecture. The U.S. presence makes it easier for ASEAN
to deal with China, he said. Singapore appreciates the
U.S. decision to participate in negotiations on investment
and financial services set to commence in February among the
P-4" group of countries (Singapore, Chile, New Zealand,
and Brunei) and to explore full participation in the P-4
Free Trade Agreement at some later date. FM Yeo noted that
the possibility of a P-4 deal with the United States "got
the region's attention." We must encourage other countries
such as Australia and South Korea, after the KORUS FTA is
concluded, to join in order to build momentum, he said.
MTI Permanent Secretary Ong said that the P-4 arrangement
sends a strong signal about U.S. commitment to the region.
However, he emphasized the importance of bringing in other
members in order to avoid creating a "two-tiered APEC" in
which only the wealthier members were party to a
high-standard trade liberalization regime, such as that
envisioned under the P-4 framework.


7. (U) D/NSA Price cleared this message.

Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm
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