‘Protectionism damaging global economy’

G20, in a united message, agrees on promotion of free trade

WASHINGTON: The Group of 20 major economies (G20) sent a united message on Friday on the threat that rising protectionism poses to the global economy, an apparent return to a long-time stance called into question by the United States (US).

Speaking after a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Washington, Germany’s Wolfgang Schauble said they were now in “broad agreement” that “free trade is better for global growth”.

“There was a broad consensus that protectionism would be damaging to the global economy and the concerned economies as well,” the German minister, whose country holds the rotating G20 presidency, told reporters.



That seemed to mark a striking change of tone since the last finance ministers meeting in Germany one month ago, when the US prevented the G20 from including the traditional pledge against protectionism in its final communiqué, calling the language “irrelevant”.

In fact, Schauble said Friday’s meeting managed to overcome “some of the difficult things” in communications since that meeting, although he did not provide details. However, it was unclear how far that consensus extended since the group did not release a communiqué this time.

Rising protectionist and anti-globalisation sentiment in key economies has created a tense atmosphere at the normally placid and formulaic gathering of finance ministers in Washington, where the G20 officials met ahead of the semi-annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.



Concerns have notably been fuelled by President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on countries that have surpluses with the US, by the British decision to leave the European Union and the anti-internationalist rhetoric in the French presidential election campaign.

The G20 ministers also agreed that economic growth must be made “more inclusive” in order to stem the rise of protectionism, according Schauble.

“Many people feel that they do not benefit from the advantage of growth and globalisation, and we need to tackle this, otherwise we will see more protectionism and countries retreating from globalisation down the road,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2017.

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