Brussels, 18/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following on from the announcement that Airbus/EADS was withdrawing from the US Air Force tanker aircraft competition, something he deemed “very regrettable”, new European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht - renowned for speaking his mind - did not mince his words on Thursday 18 March when talking about the US administration's ambivalent trade policy. In an interview with Belgian daily De Tijd, De Gucht said that it would be virtually impossible to get an agreement before the end of 2010 on the multinational Doha Round talks on liberalising world trade. De Gucht had made such an agreement one of the major priorities of the EU trade policy. He blamed Washington for the talks being bogged down. “One of the problems is that we don't know exactly what the United States wants. It doesn't want any progress for the moment, that's clear,” he says. “Yet the United States is calling for developing countries to open their borders more to US goods, but it isn't giving anything in return. The idea that progress can be made without making any concessions is mistaken. It's my impression that the decision-making process is somewhat at a halt in the US,” he went on, partially blaming the partial US Congress election in November 2009 for the deadlock in the Round, with Democrats being unlikely, in a period of economic difficulty, to call for an agreement. Former Belgian foreign minister De Gucht also lambasts the promise made by President Barack Obama to double US exports within five years. In an interview with British daily Financial Times, he says, “I would say that the general mood in the European Union is much less protectionist than it is in the US. … It is interesting to note … he (Obama) speaks about 'exports' and not about 'trade'. Trade is, by definition, about two directions … trade means also accepting that imports are doubling. I don't think it's by accident that the word export is used instead of trade”. In De Tijd, De Gucht goes even further, stating, “I do not see how it is possible to double exports without a free-trade approach. Protectionism cannot lead to a doubling of exports”. (E.H./transl.rt)