Trump’s tough trade talk pays off

BADEN-BADEN: President Donald Trump’s tough talk on trade paid off Saturday when ministers from 20 world powers meeting in Germany agreed to abandon their tradition of championing free trade and rejecting protectionism.

“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin of the two-day meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and their central bankers in the German resort town of Baden-Baden.

In the final communique, the ministers agreed only to “work to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies” – breaking the long-standing practice of affirming free trade and open markets.

The outcome marked a win for Trump, whose “America First” agenda and antiglobalisation rhetoric has spooked allies.

Ministers had “reached an impasse and dead end” on protectionism, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after he made a last-ditch effort to try to forge a consensus on the issue.

“At some meetings you cannot reach all that you want to achieve. But that is something we can live with,” said Schaeuble, who was also the host of the talks in Baden-Baden. Indeed, the US delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stood its ground against enormous pressure from other G20 states.

“We do have a new administration and we do have a different view of trade,” said the former Goldman Sachs banker, who took up the position last month.

“What was included in the past communiques was not necessarily relevant from my standpoint,” Mnuchin said following the meeting.

At the US’s urging, the ministers also dropped support for previous climate funding pledges as set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Mnuchin repeatedly stressed in BadenBaden that while the Trump administration backed free trade, it wanted “a fair trade and balanced trade” that worked in the interests of the American worker as well as the US’s trading partners. – dpa