By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - An international coalition of business groups on Friday urged leaders of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries to give a political push to finishing the Doha round of world trade talks.
They urged the G20 leaders, meeting on Friday and Saturday in Washington to discuss ways to address the global financial crisis, to guard against protectionism that could worsen economic conditions.
This could be achieved, the business groups said, by "agreeing to a freeze on the imposition of any new trade and investment barriers for goods and services and (to) intensify efforts to conclude successfully the WTO Doha round."
The coalition included business groups from the United States, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Britain, Japan and France, whose leaders are in Washington for the summit.
U.S. officials have said they hope G20 leaders will agree to a statement that would set the stage for a breakthrough in the seven-year-old Doha round by the end of the year.
Chris Padilla, U.S. commerce under secretary for international trade, told Reuters the United States still believes an agreement on "modalities" -- the main parameters of a deal covering agriculture, manufactured goods and services trade -- could be reached in the next eight weeks.
U.S. manufacturers want a G20 statement that specifically endorses the U.S. demand for "sectoral" negotiations in which a critical mass of countries would agree to reduce tariffs in certain industries to zero.
"If the G20 nations agree on immediate adoption of key sectoral agreements -- such as electrical equipment, medical products, chemicals, and others in those negotiations -- it would send a strong signal to the global economy that there is confidence and hope for the future," the National Association of Manufacturers said in a statement.
China and India, both members of the G20, have been resisting the United States on that front.
Trade ministers meeting in Geneva in July came very near to reaching a breakthrough in the Doha round.
But that effort collapsed when the United States clashed with India and China over the terms of a "special safeguard mechanism" to protect farmers in poor countries from a surge in imports. That issue is still not resolved. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)