The United States and Britain are optimistic that World Trade Organization members can reach a long-sought agreement soon in the Doha round of world trade talks, the two countries' leaders said.

"The president and I are one in seeking an early conclusion to a trade agreement," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at a joint news conference with Bush at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

"We agreed that contact between leaders will be stepped up so that we are ready to quickly finalize an agreement in the near future," Brown said.

Brown said he had spoken in recent days with leaders including European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and World Trade Organization boss Pascal Lamy.

India, Brazil, Europe and the United States have been among the leading players in the WTO's Doha round, the fractious trade talks that were launched in 2001 in Qatar.

Even that quartet of powerful trading nations has been unable to agree to a formula for lowering tariffs in farm and manufacturing trade and reducing subsidies in the round, in addition to the other thorny issues that have stood in the way of a new global trade deal for almost six years.

Negotiators are poring over negotiating drafts circulated earlier this month, but it is unclear if they can bridge substantial gaps in time to reach an agreement by year's end as hoped. Negotiations resume in September.

BUSH UPBEAT

The World Bank cautions that failure to conclude a deal would squander an opportunity to add billions of dollars a year to world commerce and also risk backsliding on trade liberalization that has already occurred.

Yet Bush was upbeat. "Gordon Brown brought some interesting suggestions on the way forward. He's optimistic that we can conclude the Doha round, as am I," the president said.

Economists say much of the round's gains would come from liberalizing farm trade. Bush has said he would be willing to make large cuts to US farm subsidies, a major sticking point, but only if other countries make reciprocal cuts to tariffs.

Bush also said that Brown understands "that if we're really interested in eradicating poverty, it's important for us be successful in the Doha round."

Unlike previous trade talks, the Doha round was launched with a special mission of bringing poor countries a more fruitful role in the world economy.

"In a world trade agreement lies the difference between progress to a more open, global trading economy and a retreat into protectionism," Brown said.

But critics, such as aid and advocacy group Oxfam, say rich nations are missing the point on Doha's development mission.

"Rich countries ... must stop treating development-friendly policies as a concession. Development should be front and center in these talks, otherwise the resulting deal will not help to reduce poverty," Bernice Romero, Oxfam International's policy director, said in a statement.

The Bush administration seeks a deal even as it grapples with a Congress that is increasingly skeptical of free trade.

A group of mostly Democratic lawmakers, led by Michigan Democrat Rep. Dale Kildee, introduced a resolution urging Congress against renewing White House trade negotiating powers, known as fast track. That authority expired in June. (Reuters)