A collision between the United States and the two emerging market giants of China and India was threatening to unravel a tentative framework agreement at the world trade talks in Geneva yesterday.

A row has erupted over American ambitions to secure more access to emerging markets for cotton and soya beans, two important American export crops. The opposing sides accused each other of jeopardising progress in the Doha trade talks, which are delicately poised after seven years of negotiations.

America accused India and China of threatening the weekend deal hammered out by leading trading blocs including the US, the European Union, Brazil, China, India, Australia and Japan.

“That is a real risk because those countries [China and India] are advocating selectively reopening the package. Therefore, there is a real threat to a delicate balance we have achieved on Friday night and I am concerned it will jeopardise the outcome of this round,” Susan Schwab, the chief American trade negotiator, said.

In response, the Chinese and Indian delegates denied that their position was putting at risk a trade deal and suggested that the US was not offering enough, notably over cotton subsidies. “The extremely high subsidies by the US have caused serious damage to cotton farmers in developing countries, including those in Africa and 150 million in China,” a Chinese official said.

The argument is over the special safeguard mechanism, a system in World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules that allows countries to raise tariffs sharply on certain products when there is an extraordinary surge in imports.

India wants the trigger volume for safeguard measures to be low, arguing that it needs to protect its subsistence farmers from being priced out of their livelihoods. The US insists that it must have better access to the growing Indian and Chinese markets in exchange for any cut in subsidies.

“We believe that the US is not in a position to discuss with developing [country] members on cotton tariffs until they eliminate their cotton subsidies,” the Chinese official said.

Friday's optimism over the framework agreement seems to have evaporated. One Geneva diplomat said the confrontation between the US and its emerging market opponents was critical: “It is a potential walk-away. We may have missed a trick in allowing too much time for discussion after the Friday agreement. We have lost momentum.”

Kamal Nath, the Indian Trade Minister, said that he had never given his blessing to Pascal Lamy's compromise deal.

The WTO director-general set out a series of numbers on tariffs and subsidies in an effort to push through a compromise that would prevent the Doha Round from expiring before the US presidential election at the end of this year.

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