In spite of the doomsayers, there is still a deal to be made in the Doha trade round as talks get under way in Hong Kong. We begin with the key underpinning for any agreement – economic self-interest. Each participant stands to gain from an ambitious World Trade Organisation deal that reduces trade-distorting farm subsidies, cuts tariffs and boosts global economic growth. The US and European Union need an agreement because neither can afford to continue to expand budget-busting farm subsidy programmes.

With Hurricane Katrina and Iraq driving the US budget deficit toward even scarier levels, prospects for the 2007 farm bill are shaky at best. This means farmers cannot rely on bigger and bigger government cheques. Instead, they must increase their incomes by growing and marketing crops more efficiently than their competitors. To do that America will need new markets, particularly in Asia, and the only way to get them is via the WTO.