D'oha!

The failure of Mata Bharat, the August Presence in Jade and Uncle Sam to come to a compromise may have killed the Doha Round of negotiations in the WTO. Proponents of the agreement argue that tariffs world-wide would have dropped by $130 billion a year. An agricultural "safeguard clause" threshold issue lay at the heart of the collapse with the U.S. catching the blame. The EU's trade negotiator bitterly noted that seven years of hard labor over the agreement were scuttled over a technicality. Doomsayers are squawking about how this could mean an end to multilateral agreements and a resurgence of bilateral agreements. Perhaps. Or perhaps the members of this dysfunctional frat will find their way back to the table and come up with a better solution over a few rounds of Duff.