G20, forged in crisis, faces major test next week: Trump
When G20 world leaders met for the first time in 2008 their mission was a desperate one - to rescue the global economy from the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. They were successful.
Ten years on, that picture of unity in the face of economic calamity is in the rear-view mirror. Leaders of the G20 industrialised nations meeting in Argentina next week are expected to struggle to agree on a joint statement on two of the biggest, and thorniest, global issues on their agenda - trade and climate change.
Officials in European and Asian capitals helping to prepare for the meeting said they were cautiously optimistic that a communique would be issued when the two-day meeting ends on 1 December.
But many said it would likely be watered down to try to ensure approval from US President Donald Trump, an avowed skeptic of man-made climate change who has adopted protectionist trade policies and a more isolationist foreign policy.
Recent history suggests those who draft the communique face a tough challenge when they begin their work in earnest in Buenos Aires on Monday.
Last weekend, officials from countries attending a major Asia-Pacific summit failed to agree on a joint communique for the first time as the United States clashed with China over trade and security.
In May Trump rejected a statement by fellow leaders of the G7 industrialised economies after a tense gathering ended in acrimony, again over tariffs and trade.
“It’s a club that is even more difficult to manage than the G7,” said a French diplomatic source. “Let’s face it. The issues are difficult, the talks have been difficult since last year. It will be the case again this year, maybe even tougher.” It will be the first time the leaders have met since Trump imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese imports to force concessions from Beijing on greater access to Chinese markets, forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft. China responded with import tariffs on US goods. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned this week that an escalation in the trade war - the US tariff rate on $200 billion in Chinese goods is set to increase to 25% from 10% on 1 January - would impede global economic growth. Officials from some G20 countries, anxious to see a swift end to the US-China trade war, are hopeful but not confident that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of G20 may yield at least a partial ceasefire.