Mandelson seeks revival of Doha trade talks

Peter Mandelson has said he will seek US backing for a fresh bid to reach a deal on liberalising world trade.

The European trade commissioner was on Monday in Washington DC for talks with President Bush.

He was set to urge the American leader to give his personal backing to the Doha round of trade negotiations.

The talks were thought to have collapsed, but the EU appears to be keen to launch one final attempt to reach agreement.

"We are on a knife's edge. We have to engage President Bush personally, because this deal can only be done with his authority," Mandelson told the Times.

And he told the FT that recent meetings meant that "the gap between us is no longer such as to dismiss hope of a successful outcome".

"We are not that far apart to give up on the process," he said.