Leading developing countries were deeply divided on Friday over how far to cut industrial goods tariffs as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) intensifies its search for a long-elusive global free trade deal.
Argentina and allies Brazil and India faced strong criticism from rich nations over a plan that would have limited the cuts developing states would have to offer as part of any pact.
But a number of poorer WTO members, amongst them Chile, Mexico and Hong Kong China, also took issue with the stance of their fellow developing states, saying that their plan would never lead to any accord.
"The moment has arrived for realism, when all members must show flexibility," said Chilean ambassador Mario Matus addressing a meeting of the industrial goods negotiating committee.
The 150-state WTO has stepped up the search for a deal in the near six-year-old Doha round of free trade talks, with industrial goods a key area of contention along with agriculture.
As the price for accepting deep cuts to farm tariffs and subsidies, rich members such as the United States, Japan and the European Union are demanding that developing countries drop their barriers to business in manufacturing goods.
The richer nations have proposed a system that would cut tariffs across the board and leave a ceiling for developed states of 10 percent and for developing of 15 percent.
But Argentina, which spoke for the so-called NAMA-11 group of developing countries, named after the acronym for the WTO industrial goods' talks, essentially restated a long-held position that the group could not go below a ceiling of 35 percent.
But Chile, Costa Rica, Malaysia and others said that for common ground to be found, it must be around 20 percent for developing countries and rich nations would have to go below 10.