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- BUSINESS, Page 71Business NotesTRADECan't Make A Deal
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- The omens were bleak from the start. As talks got under way
- in Brussels last week in the final round of negotiations on
- revising the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 30,000
- European and Japanese farmers marched through clouds of tear
- gas in the city center, destroying property and brandishing
- placards opposing cuts in agricultural subsidies. The farmers'
- fury helped torpedo the GATT's four-year attempt to set new
- guidelines for nearly $4 trillion in global commerce. The
- effort collapsed on Friday when the European Community refused
- to meet demands by the U.S. and other major food exporters to
- cut farm aid more than 30%.
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- Mindful that the failure could unleash a spiral of
- protectionism, delegates from the 107 participating nations
- consented to a cooling-off period. They will meet in Geneva
- early next year in a final push to salvage something from their
- tiring and often tempestuous talks.
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