Well, although the WTO doesn’t say so, it appears all the parties recognize that for any deal to happen, it needs to be in place well before President Bush’s “fast track” trade authority expires in mid-2007. The prevailing wisdom is that this summer is the real deadline for a general agreement, since negotiators will need additional time to produce individual commitments that can be put through the requisite domestic processes necessary for states to consent to be bound to the new agreement. And, here in the United States, those domestic processes get a whole lot more complicated if the President lacks the up-or-down Congressional vote available under his “fast track” trade promotion authority. Indeed, some states might go so far as to avoid making concessions to the United States if they believe that, in lieu of an up-or-down vote, Congress can modify or undo these concessions as a condition for its approval of any deal. So, keep an eye on the WTO in July – that’s the point at which we’ll see if Doha revives itself (as many negotiations do at the last minute), or continues to die a slow death.