Washington: The United States is concerned about the direction the Doha round of world trade talks is taking, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said today.

"Unfortunately recent developments in Geneva have moved the negotiations in the direction of less balance and less market access," she said.

"The new draft texts on agriculture and manufacturing are disappointing, because they do not move us closer to a deal that would contribute to economic growth and development," Schwab added.

"The texts shift the focus from opening markets to negotiating about extended exceptions and exclusions," the top US trade negotiator said.

Asked about the possibility of convening a frequently postponed formal meeting of all 152 member states of the World Trade Organisation, Schwab was not optimistic.

"Are we ready for a ministerial yet? I don't know. We have some more work to do," she said.

Schwab's comments came after the United States filed a complaint against the European Union over tariffs levied on high-technology goods.

In its complaint, filed jointly with Japan, Washington charged that Brussels was imposing duties on certain products such as flat-screen computer monitors and cable set-top boxes that should be duty-free under the WTO s Information Technology Agreement (ITA).

"The EU should be working with the United States to promote new technologies, not finding protectionist gimmicks to apply new duties to these products," Schwab said in the complaint.

Source : PTI