THE TELEGRAPH: The EU's trade commissioner fears this is the last year the Doha trade round will survive, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, has warned Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, that she risks stirring up a hornets nest by inflaming protectionist sentiment in the United States.
"The things she's been saying reverberate around the world," he said.
"This is the last year the Doha trade round can survive. There is little chance of a breakthrough after this president leaves office. People in the current administration tell me the US is turning into a protectionsist country. It is a serious concern."
Mr Mandelson, the ex-architect of New Labour, once had close ties to the Democratic Party. But his duties as defender of the EU trade system now put him starkly at odds with his former allies and soulmates.
"The Democratic Party is not where it was in the free trade heyday of Bill Clinton, but I don't think it is irretrievable," he said.
Hillary Clinton has vowed to "review" America's main trade treaties, including the North American NAFTA pact signed by her husband. She has called for measures to "shelter" US companies from foreign investors.
Her arguments appear to go beyond campaign rhetoric. She now argues that "free trade" doctrines have been overtaken by the rise of cheap labour rivals in Asia, forcing the US to adopt a radically different strategy. "We just can't keep doing what we did in the twentieth century. We have to drive a tougher bargain," she said. Mandelson worried by Hillary’s tough talk >>> By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
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