Most news reports on the breakdown of Doha have focussed on the issue of so-called safeguard mechanisms as an explanation for failure. These mechanisms are designed to allow developing countries to protect their farmers from surges in imports. India, China and the US could not reach agreement on the issue. The safeguard mechanisms are widely acknowledged to be a comparatively small part of the talks. So why have they been assigned such prominence? This is in part because media analysis, at least in the short-term, will generally tend to look at the more immediate factors for a given event. And it is certainly true that the issue of safeguard mechanisms was an important factor in the immediate term. However, there are longer-term factors that offer a more useful explanation for the demise of Doha. Trade negotiations are...
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