Divided G20 admits worsening trade wars pose risk to world economy

The world’s top financial policymakers admitted on Sunday that trade tensions had worsened and posed a risk for the global economy, after a G20 meeting that laid bare differences between the United States and other nations.
 

Following 30 hours of wrangling in what one official described as a “tense” atmosphere, G20 finance minister and central bank chiefs produced a hard-fought final statement acknowledging that “growth remains low and risks remain tilted to the downside.” “Most importantly, trade and geopolitical tensions have intensified,” the G20 said, adding they “stood ready to take further action” if required.
 

As a compromise pushed by Washington, the statement omitted language from a previous draft that mentioned a “pressing need to resolve trade tensions.” The statement capped two days of talks in the western Japanese port city of Fukuoka that also tackled the thorny issue of taxing internet giants and, for the first time, the economic challenges posed by ageing.