Emergency Committee For American Trade

ECAT Disappointed by Lack of Doha Breakthrough

Urges All Parties to Redouble Efforts to Find a Path Forward

Washington, D.C., July 30, 2008: Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies and Chairman of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), issued the following statement after the 9^th day of World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha negotiations ended without a breakthrough:

“ECAT is disappointed that the WTO Doha negotiations have not produced a breakthrough. The Doha opportunity is too important to be lost, and today’s impasse represents a serious setback to the WTO’s efforts to stimulate global economic growth and help lift millions of people out of poverty.

“At an appropriate point, the negotiations will resume. When that happens, ECAT urges all countries to work together to move the world trading system beyond the Uruguay Round Agreements by opening new markets, rather than seeking to close them. In the meantime, the very important day-to-day work of the WTO will continue, including its vital roles in helping to ensure that existing WTO commitments are honored and working with countries that are seeking to join the rules-based trading system.

“ECAT applauds the resolve and enormous efforts of the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, Assistant to the President Daniel Price, Deputy USTR Peter Allgeier and the entire U.S. negotiating team to seek a commercially meaningful agreement that not only benefits U.S. farmers, manufacturers, service providers and their workers, but also benefits the global community.”

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Founded in 1967, ECAT is an organization of the heads of leading U.S. international business enterprises representing all major sectors of the American economy. Their annual worldwide sales total over $2.8 trillion and they employ more than six million persons. ECAT’s purpose is to promote economic growth through the expansion of international trade and investment.

Attached Document(s): 07-30-08 ECAT Statement on Doha Negotiations.pdf