The United States will today unveil a proposal to eliminate tariffs on manufactured goods, the Financial Timesreported.
The paper said the proposal will call for countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to sweep away all duties no later than 2015.
According to the report, the initiative was aimed at jump-starting the faltering Doha round of international trade negotiations, which have been overshadowed by a series of US proposals for bilateral trade agreements.
The proposal, to be unveiled Washington by US Trade Representative Mr Robert Zoellick and Commerce Secretary Mr Donald Evans would be presented as the culmination of a 50-year effort to remove tariffs, the FTsaid.
The paper said the key elements of the proposal, according to industry and congressional officials briefed on the plans, were:
- a rapid reduction in high tariffs on non-agricultural products, so that by 2010 there would be no tariffs above 8 per cent. All tariffs would then be reduced progressively to zero by 2015.
- the elimination, no later than 2010, of all duties that are currently below 5 per cent.
- a parallel initiative calling for faster elimination of tariffs in many industrial sectors such as chemicals, paper, wood and construction equipment.
Ms Arancha Gonzalez, the spokeswoman for EU Trade Commissioner Mr Pascal Lamy, said Brussels would await an official announcement from the United States before making a formal reaction.
But she added: "We are very glad, very happy, that the United States has finally decided to engage all the discussions to further liberalise industrial goods.