Eleventh-hour talks to reach a global agreement on trade collapsed in Geneva yesterday as India, China and the United States failed to resolve a dispute over tariff protection for farmers in poorer countries.

The failure brings to an end negotiations that began in Doha seven years ago and would have generated trade worth billions of dollars for the emerging powers of Asia and Latin America. After nine days, the talks fell apart over disagreements surrounding a sliding scale of tariffs that would have enabled emerging countries to impose higher duties in the event of import surges in certain products from developed nations.

Pascal Lamy, the WTO head, said: “I think it’s no use beating around the bush, this meeting has collapsed. Members have simply not been able to bridge their differences.” Peter Mandelson, the EU Trade Commissioner, described it as a massive confidence blow to the world economy.

Fears are growing that it could provoke a protectionist backlash. It was not immediately clear what the next steps for the WTO’s global trade round would be. It risks possibly years of delay as the US prepares for a change of government.

The collapse brought down with it a potential deal over trade in bananas between Latin American exporters and the EU.

Hoping to clear the way for a Doha breakthrough, the European Commission agreed on Sunday to reduce its import duties for bananas from Latin American countries, including Ecuador, the world’s biggest exporter of the fruit, and Costa Rica.

The deal angered rival exporters in former European colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries whose bananas enter the EU with no duties as part of their long-standing trade perks with the bloc.

Peter Power, a spokesman for Mr Mandelson, said: “This was not a standalone agreement and was going to be part of a Doha package, so there is no banana deal as of now.”

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