Developed countries 'kill' Doha Round

The Doha Round of talks is supposed to correct the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that are biased against developing countries - At least, that's what the original idea was.

But after almost a decade, the talks have gone nowhere. And the blame for that has to be placed on developed countries. It's not that the developed countries have had a joint stand on the issues at stake. As things have unfolded, even the United States seems to be confused - not about what it wants from the Doha Round - but about the negotiations themselves.

Take US Trade Representative Ron Kirk for example. He told the Associated Press on Thursday that it's too soon to declare the Doha Round "a failure". A Reuters report on the same day quoted Kirk as saying that setting deadlines for progress in the Doha Round of global free-trade talks "was unhelpful".