Nickel and Diming the Poor: U.S. Implementation of the LDC Initiative

Publication Date: July 2006

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Viji Rangaswami

Research Area: Trade

Type: Brief

Abstract:

The United States has an opportunity to change the dynamics of the stalemated global trade talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Over the past few months, countries have criticized the United States for demanding that they open their markets to U.S. farm and manufactured goods exports, while at the same time refusing to open the U.S. market to goods from the poorest countries.

In a new Policy Outlook, Nickel and Diming the Poor: U.S. Implementation of the LDC Initiative, Viji Rangaswami argues that the U.S. should provide open access for least developed country exports, which would yield real benefits to the global poor and allow the U.S. to reclaim its leadership position in the struggling WTO round.