Ministers will meet in Geneva later this month with renewed optimism that a global trade compromise can be reached.
They have been spurred on by the promises of greater flexibility made by leaders at the recent summit of major industrial and developing nations.
Trade ministers hope to agree plans for cutting industrial and farm tariffs and subsidies by an end of July deadline.
They will meet at the World Trade Organization's Geneva headquarters from 23-24 and 30-31 July.
The tortuous Doha Development Round of trade negotiations, designed to liberalise world trade, are in their fifth year since being launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001.
Tariffs and subsidies
Their aim was to make global trade fairer for developing nations and open up manufacturing and agricultural markets.
There have been subsequent large-scale meetings in Cancun in Mexico, Geneva, Paris and Hong Kong - all of which have failed to make a major breakthrough.
The current negotiation position is that the US wants the European Union, India and other countries to make larger cuts to the tariffs they charge on agricultural imports.
It is thought that that the EU at least is willing to go further on cutting these tariffs, but only if the US signals that it is willing to reduce the subsidies it pays its farmers.
Meanwhile, both the EU and the US want the main developing nations, including Brazil and India, to open up their markets to their manufactured goods.
It is likely that further concessions will be needed from all sides if a new global trade formula is to be agreed before the end of July.
"I think the next step for us is to go back to our capitals to see what sort of flexibility to bring back to the table," said US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
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