THE HEAT IS ON TRUMP AT G20
US President gets cold shoulder on climate decision
The final statement of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, underlined that the other countries and the European Union supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Mr Trump.
They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases “irreversible” and vowed to implement it quickly and without exception.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US position was “regrettable” but the summit had achieved “good results in some areas”, citing a hard-won agreement on trade which does include Mr Trump and the United States.
On trade, difficult talks yielded the preservation of the G20’s condemnation of protectionism, a statement which has been a hallmark of the group’s efforts to combat the global financial crisis and the after-effects of the recession. The group added new elements, however, including an acknowledgment trade must be “reciprocal and mutually advantageous” and countries could use “legitimate trade defence instruments” if they are being taken advantage of.
That echoes concerns raised by Mr Trump, who was attending his first G20. He has said business must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers.
He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the US, meaning they sell more to US consumers than they buy from American companies.
More broadly, concerns about trading deals and its impact on workers figured large in the 2016 US presidential election and in the UK’S vote to leave the European Union.
However, pro-trade officials from the EU pointed out the language in the G20 statement contains no departure from the current global system of regulation, which already allows countries to take defensive measures within the rules of the World Trade Organisation.
Those can include import taxes which offset unfair practices, such as government subsidies or below-cost pricing.
The EU demonstrated its willingness to move ahead with free trade despite Mr Trump by announcing a trade agreement with Japan on the eve of the summit. WORLD powers yesterday lined up against US President Donald Trump on climate change yesterday as they reaffirmed their support for international efforts to fight global warming.