US leadership key to restarting trade talks: Indonesia

The US government's focus on domestic issues amid a severe recession
is hobbling efforts to restart the stalled Doha round of global trade
talks, Indonesia's trade minister said here Saturday. Mari Pangestu
said in a speech to an international conference in Singapore that US
leadership was crucial to jumpstart the talks, which have stalled
since last year. But the government in the world's biggest economy
has been busy grappling with its worst recession since the Great
Depression in the 1930 as well as other domestic issues such as
revamping the healthcare system. "The priorities of the US government
right now... are not on trade, but on solving other issues such as
health care before they return to the trade issue," Pangestu said.
"We know that without US leadership and clear signalling, it has not
been possible to restart the process of negotiations even as others,
including India, now stand ready to begin."