Prospects for the WTO Doha round of trade negotiations and the implications of recent US trade moves dominated the session on trade policy.

Sergio Marchi, Chairman of the General Council of the World Trade Organization, said the three-year timetable for completing the Doha round was ambitious, but it could be achieved.

Mr Marchi, who is Canada's WTO ambassador, said the international reaction to US actions, including tariffs on steel and lumber and the introduction of agricultural subsidies under the farm bill, had been one of "concern and consternation." He insisted that continued cooperation between the two trade giants, the European Union and the United States, was vital to the success of the Doha round.

For the developing countries, improved market access for their textile and clothing, agricultural and industrial exports was "where the rubber hits the road". He added: "To maintain the trust of the developing countries, we have to deliver the goods."

Columbia University economics professor Jagdish Bhagwati said the United States had gone from Jekyll to Hyde by supporting trade liberalization while also imposing tariffs on some steel imports. "The main players are not setting a good example," he said. "If you start giving crumbs to protectionists, it is almos t like giving them loaves."

Dean O'Hare, Chairman and CEO of the Chubb Corporation, said market access was the first step to meaningful business opportunities. Trade liberalization through the WTO helped those who had been left behind by giving them the means to catch up.

François Perigot, President of the International Organization of Employers, said protesters against globalization at major world economic conferences around the world supported ideologies whose lack of success was proven. "We should help, not fight governments, so that they make good use of open economies."

In a separate presentation on the closing day of the Congress, United States Commerce Secretary Donald Evans voiced optimism about swift congressional approval of Trade Promotion Authority for the Bush Administration.

Mr Evans said it was difficult to overstate the benefits of global trade liberalization. Even a one-third reduction in global barriers to trade in agriculture, services and manufacturing would yield $613 billion per year in world economic expansion - the equivalent of an economy the size of Canada's. Elimination of all trade barriers would boost global growth by $1.9 trillion per year, the equivalent of adding two Chinas, he said.