"Clearly, the momentum created by the WTO (World Trade Organisation) meetings in Geneva provides at least some light at the end of the tunnel" for stalled talks on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, said Mark Smith, executive vice president of the Brazil-US Business Council.

WTO members reached a breakthrough on Sunday when they agreed on a basic framework for cutting agricultural subsidies and tariffs around the world.

Although many details remain to be decided, the United States and the European Union agreed to cut trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies by 20 percent from currently permitted levels in the first year of any new pact.

Agricultural subsidies have been a major stumbling block in the FTAA negotiations, with Brazil pushing for US cuts as part of the agreement and the United States insisting it could only take that step as part of world trade pact that includes the European Union and Japan.

"I do believe this idea of a down-payment on subsidies (in the WTO framework) creates significant good will" that could spill over into the FTAA talks, Smith said.

Sherman Katz, a trade expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said he also hoped Brazil "would be sufficiently encouraged about the willingness of the US to take some serious steps" on agriculture.

Richard Mills, a spokesman for the US Trade Representative's office, was cautious about the outlook for the Americas trade talks, despite the recent WTO success.

The United States appreciates the positive role Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim played in forging the WTO agreement, but "there remain differences within the FTAA process," Mills said.