Push to revive Doha to dominate Bush, Lola meeting

A push to rescue struggling world trade talks will top the agenda when President George W. Bush hosts Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva yesterday at Camp David.

The meeting at the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains will include trade ministers and a discussion of the two leaders' shared goal of promoting ethanol use.

A broader theme will be the effort by Bush, a conservative, to build on his strong but unlikely friendship with the left-leaning Brazilian president. Bush counts on Lula as a moderate counterweight to the influence in Latin America of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

Lula will be the first Latin American leader to go to Camp David on a working visit since 1991.

Three weeks ago, Bush made Brazil the first stop on his weeklong Latin America tour in which he and Lula launched a deal aimed at promoting the global use of ethanol.

Lula, who spent Friday night at Blair House across from the White House, will arrive at Camp David in the afternoon and the two will hold a joint press availability and have dinner before the Brazilian leader heads back home.

Fisk said that at the meeting, the leaders will unveil a list of Central American and Caribbean countries that will participate in a "pilot program" for bio-fuels.

However, the leaders are likely to continue to agree to disagree on one point - Brazil's call for Washington to reduce its 54 cents-per-gallon (3.8 liters) tariff on the bio-fuel.

In an opinion piece in The Washington Post on Friday, Lula said progress toward a global market for ethanol should not be "hindered by protectionist policies" and cited subsidies on US corn-based ethanol as leading to a sharp rise in some food prices recently.

But Bush made clear at the Sao Paulo meeting that he had not agreed with Lula to reduce the ethanol tariff.

Brazil and the United States are the world's two leading ethanol producers, accounting for 70 per cent of global production.

On the Doha round, breakthroughs are unlikely at Camp David though the meeting may help lay the groundwork for progress in coming weeks, analysts said.

Negotiators have been trying to galvanise the Doha talks aimed at lifting millions out of poverty by reducing global trade barriers.