The Pittsburgh G20 summit has pretty much turned out as the American hosts intended: with a pledge by the leaders of the world’s biggest economies to rethink their economic policies, boost bank capital to avoid future financial crises, and even kickstart the stalled Doha Trade Round.

On the economic front, the aim is to reduce the immense imbalances between export-dominated countries such as China and Japan, whose trade reserves have funded the large US deficit caused by excessive consumption and borrowing.

Watch this space: Doha could be back on the table by the end of this year.

Agriculture minister David Carter has just returned from a European meet and greet where he discovered a degree of optimism that the World Trade Organisation’s Doha talks would resume, once again putting the highly contentious issues of agricultural tariffs and subsidies in the spotlight.

If New Zealand reduced agricultural production to comply with Kyoto commitments, other countries would contribute more to global warming.

Agriculture minister David Carter spoke to a gathering of academics, NGO representatives, food and retail representatives and government officials at London’s prestigious Chatham House, the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Chatham House Rules, on Friday.

Discussions between new faces from India and the US have given hope that the Doha round of trade negotiations could be reignited sooner rather than later, despite the recent reintroduction of protectionist measures by the EU and US.

New Indian minister of commerce and industry Anand Sharma and US trade representative Ron Kirk met at the Cairns Group meeting in Bali, with positive results.

Specifics weren't released but both parties agreed on principles.

World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy is warning that American farm subsidies could balloon out to $US48 billion a year unless politicians settle their differences on agriculture in the stalled Doha multilateral trade talks.

This would have a major bearing on New Zealand’s attempts to get a free trade with the US, and lessen the potential for NZ farmers to gain greater access to the US domestic market.

More bad news for the sagging world economy. The World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva have collapsed after India and China rejected American efforts to reduce food subsidies and tariffs.

"There is no use beating around the bush, this meeting has collapsed, members have simply not been able to bridge their differences," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said.