G8 leaders today asked leading developing countries to join them in pushing for a breakthrough in stalled world trade talks.
G8 leaders agreed today they would ask World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy - who met with the G8 on Monday - to broker a compromise on the key sticking points of agriculture and industrial tariffs within a month.
Trade representatives from the United States, European Union, Brazil, Japan, India and Australia are heading to WTO headquarters in Geneva to resume talks on Monday, officials said.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab was due to fly later today direct to Geneva from the G8 summit in St Petersburg, Russia, with a mandate from President George W. Bush to press ahead in search of a "robust" Doha round, her spokesman said.
"We hope other nations will match the bold offer that the US has on the table," spokesman Sean Spicer said.
"We're going to Geneva to discuss in the hope of moving forward."
Leaders from Brazil, India, China, Mexico and South Africa key players in the so-called G20 developing country trade bloc - met with their G8 counterparts at the Petersburg summit on Monday amid hopes for some movement in entrenched positions.
The 5-year old Doha round of talks hit an impasse last month.
Key to progress is how much the US will cut farm subsidies, how much the European Union will lower tariffs on farm imports and how much developing countries will reduce barriers to industrial and service imports.
G8 officials said the position of Brazil, which heads the influential G20 bloc, was now key after the G8 had presented a united front on the talks yesterday.
There is great interest in the "possible evolution of the Brazilian position," one said. Bush met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva early today and both urged a redoubling of efforts break the impasse in talks toward a global trade pact.
"I am convinced that now is the time for us to make a political decision," the Brazilian leader said, adding that negotiators "don't have any hidden cards in their pockets" so it was critical for leaders to get involved.
One European Union source said Mr Lula had signalled flexibility. "Lula showed some openness to going further on non-agricultural tariffs," the source said.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson was also ready to head to Geneva on Monday night. "Mandelson's plane is warming up," the source said.