The latest bid to break the deadlock in world trade talks has collapsed after the US launched a bitter attack on its partners over farm subsidies.
No more discussions have been scheduled after the meeting 'imploded' last night, according to a World Trade Organisation official.
Trade negotiators from the G6 group of nations, the US, EU, Japan, India, Brazil and Australia, had gathered in Geneva yesterday for a day of talks which were said initially to be making progress.
But last night US trade negotiator Susan Schwab made it clear that the US was giving no more ground on lower farm subsidies, and attacked the EU, India and Japan for not doing enough.
This morning when the talks reconvened to see what could be salvaged, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy decided not to attempt any more negotiations.
The temporary abandonment of the so-called Doha Round came despite the insistence of the G8 leaders' earlier this month on setting a new mid-August deadline to revive hopes of a landmark deal.
Reacting to the breakdown in negotiations, IFA President, Padraig Walshe, said the sell-out of European farmers has been halted for the immediate future.
He called on EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, to stand up to the US, who now want to shift the blame onto the EU.
He said: 'It has been obvious for many months that the US had no intention of making any concessions that would affect their own farmers.'
