Mar ,19,2017: G-20 nations have dropped a long-standing anti-protectionist pledge and a vow on action against climate change, after opposition from the United States. The Finance ministers from the world’s largest economies met in the southern German town of Baden-Baden, but failed to renew their pledge to bolster free trade. They issued a statement saying that they were working to strengthen the contribution of trade to their economies. References to action against climate change under the Paris accord were also scrapped from the closing statement. By comparison, last year’s meeting called on them to resist all forms of protectionism, which can include border tariffs and rules that keep out imports to shield domestic companies from competition.
Quoting sources, news agency AFP reports that the US delegation could not commit as they had not been given instruction from Washington to do so. The move came amid a push by US President Donald Trump to pursue an America First policy that includes penalising companies that manufacture abroad by heavily taxing their products.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, taking part in his first international meeting since being sworn in, sought to downplay the wording issue. He said, the statement needed to reflect the discussion at the current summit.
