UPDATE 2-WTO inches towards talks, big gaps remain

(Adds warning from U.S. lawmakers against rush to deal)

By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Trading powers are edging towards a meeting to secure a breakthrough in long-running trade talks but big gaps need to be closed before ministers can meet with any hope of success, diplomats and officials said on Tuesday.

One of the toughest areas remains proposals to eliminate tariffs in certain industrial sectors as part of broader efforts to free up commerce in manufactured goods.

These sectoral deals could yet prove a stumbling block to a meeting of ministers widely expected later this month, just as a meeting in July collapsed over a measure to safeguard farmers in developing countries from a surge in imports, said the chairman of industrial goods talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"I wouldn't qualify it as a dealbreaker, but it's a serious, difficult question which has to be put on the adequate track," Switzerland's WTO ambassador Luzius Wasescha, who mediates the industry talks, told a briefing.

Leaders of the G20 rich and emerging countries called last month for ministers to reach an outline deal in the core areas of agriculture and industrial goods by the end of this year.

A framework deal in the WTO's seven-year-old Doha trade round to open markets in food, manufactured goods and services, would boost business confidence and help counter the financial crisis, they believe.