But whether this leads to concerted action remains to be seen.
Meeting at the White House last week, the two leaders pledged to press forward with the negotiations.
"The moment of truth for the Doha trade negotiations is fast approaching, and the US holds the key to making a deal possible in 2007," said Barroso.
And at a joint press conference afterwards, Bush added that "we both recognise that the best way to help impoverished nations is to complete this Doha round".
However, such promises have been made before. The Doha round of trade talks, aimed to free global trade by cutting industrial and agricultural tariffs and by reducing farm subsidies, were suspended in July 2006 after parties failed to reach an agreement on this issue.
Since then, numerous attempts at resuscitating talks have tended to collapse.
The EU food industry has consistently expressed disappointment at the WTO's failure to achieve any meaningful agreement at the Doha round of agricultural trade talks. It believes that a successful conclusion would help secure continued industry investment across Europe, push trading partners into reforming their agricultural systems, and provide for a level playing field for trade in food and drink products and greater trade opportunities.
This was Barroso's second bilateral visit to the White House. President Bush visited the European Commission at its Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels on 22 February 2005.
"Europe and the US are committed to the values of freedom of democracy, and to projecting those values in the world," said Barroso.
"The US is also the EU's most important economic relationship. Our economies are more interdependent than ever before."
Indeed, the EU-US trade relationship represents more than 1 billion dollars a day. Two thirds of the global investment flows into the US stem from Europe (60.1 billion dollars in 2005).
The transatlantic economy is estimated to generate roughly 3 trillion dollars a year in total commercial sales, and employs roughly 14 million workers on both sides of the Atlantic. Together, the EU and the US represent 40 per cent of world trade.