World trade talks hit buffers

Global trade talks remained deadlocked in Hong Kong today after leading delegates meeting late into the night failed to reach agreement on setting a date for ending export subsidies on farm goods – again blaming European countries for blocking progress.

There was “nothing new, to speak the truth. It was everyone reiterating their positions without any conclusion”, said Brazil’s foreign minister Celso Amorim, emerging at 3am. “But it took four hours”.