GENEVA -- Global commerce talks at the World Trade Organization collapsed Monday as top powers failed to agree on steps toward liberalizing trade in farm and manufactured goods.

Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath said the talks had been suspended and added that "it could take anywhere from months to years," to restart the negotiations. "This is a serious setback, a major setback," said Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

The meeting had been called by WTO chief Pascal Lamy with ministers from Australia, Brazil, the 25-nation European Union, India, Japan and the United States to try to re-energize the talks.

Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries had reaffirmed their commitment to the talks at their summit in Russia last week, but that failed to translate into real negotiating action as officials said Sunday's meeting failed to generate the new movement hoped for after the pledges of support from the world's most powerful presidents and prime ministers.

"Unfortunately things became clear yesterday that 'Doha light' seems still to be the preferred option of some of the participants," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Monday.

Ms. Schwab told reporters at the World Trade Organization that the U.S. was committed to "a robust, ambitioned and balanced round." Other officials, though, suggested the failure of leading commercial powers to make compromises would wreck the talks.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the proposed steps forward from other countries "appeared to be getting lighter and lighter in the last few weeks." But some officials said the United States should have improved its offer on cutting government handouts to American farmers. The U.S., however, held firm to its stance that it would budge only after the EU lowered its tariffs on farm imports and leading developing countries like Brazil and India cut barriers to trade in manufactured goods.

The complex trade talks aim to boost the global economy and lift millions out of poverty world-wide by lowering trade barriers across all sectors, with particular emphasis on clearing obstacles to increased exports from developing countries.

But the Doha round has stalled because of differences between rich and poor countries, as well as between the EU and the U.S. The Doha negotiations are named for the Qatari capital where they were launched in 2001.

Most countries have been sticking rigidly to the same positions they have maintained for months.

The entire process is rapidly running out of time because President Bush's authority to "fast track" the trade deal -- enabling U.S. envoys to negotiate an agreement that can be submitted to Congress for a yea-or-nay vote without amendments -- runs out in mid-2007.