THE United States is committed to forging free trade agreements that put developing countries on a level playing-field with rich ones, said a top United States trade representative yesterday.

Ambassador Peter Allgeier, deputy trade representative, said developing countries entering into trade agreements would need special treatment to reap the benefit of free trade.

“There needs to be differential treatment geared to the different levels of development and size of the (developing) economies,” he told a news conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

Allgeier said he’d discussed such issues earlier that day during positive talks with Foreign Affairs Minister K D Knight and Ambassador Richard Bernal, head of Caricom’s Regional Negotiating Machinery.

Allgeier arrived in Kingston after visits to Barbados and St Lucia. The itinerary, he said, was chosen to include a cross-section of Caricom countries as the US moves ahead with negotiating a hemispheric free trade agreement.

“The Untied States certainly understands and operates under the premise that success in the negotiations will require there to be benefits for each and every country,” Allgeier said.

Referring to special treatment that developing nations might need, Allgeier mentioned allowing them more time than developed countries to phase out tariffs.

“It’s a process of offers and requests,” he said, referring to negotiations. “It’s a balancing act.”

Allgeier’s visit comes as the United States has faced increased criticism here and abroad for imposing allegedly protectionist trade measures, while trumpeting free trade.

Two months ago, Washington approved about $180 billion in subsidies for American farmers. US officials maintain the bill was consistent with World Trade Organisation agreements, and addressed the issues of huge farm subsidies in Europe and Japan.

Allgeier said he stressed to Caribbean government and business leaders that the US is committed to free trade, despite perceptions to the contrary among some trading partners.

“We do want to reassure our trading partners that we remain committed to trade liberalisation, especially in agriculture and services,” he said, adding that yesterday’s talks had paved the way for further negotiations.

During meetings with local business leaders, Allgeier said they voiced concerns about their need to “make adjustments to become competitive, so that they can deal with the opportunities of liberalisation, and the additional competition”.

“There was a certain high degree of anxiety in the private sector about their ability to make those adjustments,” he said.

Saying that much fine-tuning would be needed to make trade agreements beneficial for all, Allgeier said negotiators would need to consider the “large differences among the countries in levels of development, size and structures of economy.

“We need to find a way to bring benefits to everybody in a very diverse universe of negotiating points.”

Even among Caribbean countries, he said, there are large differences that must be considered, “and, logically, there should be some recognition of that”. This is complicated by the fact that Caricom is a “single entity, and that is what Caricom wanted”.

Allgeier noted that the US Senate is scheduled today to vote on a proposed fast-track authority for President George W Bush to negotiate trading agreements.

He said he’s “reasonably confident” the bill would pass, which would give “greater confidence” to the US’ trading partners.

Allgeier noted that implementing trade agreements has not been without pain or political pressures in the US, where, for example, about 6,700 textile workers have lost their jobs after the Uruguay Round.