Hope in leaders’ trade summit
All- night talks at the G20 summit led to a possible breakthrough on fixing the global t r ading sys tem, European diplomats in Argentina have said.
Despite deep divisions going into the event attended by Theresa May, and US resistance, EU officials were optimistic and said progress on a f inal statement was being made.
It wi l l acknowledge problems with the World Trade Organisation and commit to reforming it.
The US was the main problem on nearly every issue, officials said.
US president Donald Trump has criticised the WTO and taken aggressive trade policies targeting China and the EU.
But China pushed back in talks on steel, South Africa objected to language on trade, Australia did not want the statement to be too soft on migration and Turkey worried it would push too far on climate change.
With trade tensions between the US and China dominating the summit, the European diplomats aimed to play the role of mediator.
They also scaled back their expectations, cutting out mention of rising protectionism – mainly aimed at Trump.
They agreed to language on climate that says 19 leaders support the Paris climate accord and international efforts to reduce emissions but that the US does not.
The six-page draft statement says the 20 countries support the international trading system but acknowledge that the current regime does not work and needs fixing, via reform of the WTO.
The European diplomats called this the“main breakthrough”.