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G-20 Draft Statement Is on Track to Show Consensus After G-7 Fiasco

Initial efforts to produce a consensus G-20 communique are on track and have faced no meaningful opposition from the U.S., according to a person with direct knowledge of the issue.

Differences of opinion may still arise when deputy finance ministers begin meeting later this week in Buenos Aires. Still, an exchange of comments by email so far indicates that delegates will be able to avoid the type of fiasco seen at the G-7 group meeting in Canada last month, when the U.S. withdrew from the final statement amid a flurry of insults.

The negative impact of a rising trade war will inevitably be discussed at G-20, but will unlikely be included in the final document, said the person, who asked not be named because the discussions are not public.

In an attempt to minimize controversy, the draft statement is using neutral language on trade similar to that utilized in the last G-20 meeting in March. At that gathering, the G-20 said “international trade and investment are important engines of growth, productivity, innovation, job creation and development.”

The text, which delegates are seeking to keep to only two pages, also stresses the importance of multilateral rules, a theme that has taken center stage of the global policy debate as U.S. President Donald Trump questions the role of international organizations ranging from the World Trade Organization to the United Nations.

G-20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs will meet in the Argentine capital on July 21-22.
Source: Bloomberg

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