The Latest: EU officials: G-20 agrees on foreign trade
The Latest on the Group of 20 summit (all times local) :
9: 50 a.m.
European Union officials say that leaders of the Group of 20 countries have agreed to keep their markets open to foreign trade. But the group’s draft statement also says that trade needs to be mutually beneficial and that countries can take steps to protect their markets.
EU officials at the summit in Hamburg said that the draft trade language keeps the traditional G-20 condemnation of protectionism, or keeping out foreign competitors with unfair import taxes or regulations. But countries also agreed to fight “all unfair trade practices” and recognize “legitimate trade defense instruments.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the draft text before its release.
Trade has been a hotly discussed issue at the summit, as new President Donald Trump pushes his “American First” agenda. Trump has focused on making trade fair as well as free and has criticized trade relationships where the other countries sell more to the U. S. than they buy.
G-20 officials were still haggling over final language on climate change in the wake of the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.
— By David McHugh
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9: 15 a.m.
Activists from the environmental Greenpeace group have scaled a bridge in Hamburg, where the Group of 20 summit is taking place, and unfurled a banner saying, “G-20: End Coal.”
The group said in a statement that 65 activists participated in the protest early Saturday demanding from international G-20 leaders to act quickly to phase out coal and speed up global climate action.
Fighting global warming is one of the major issues on the G-20 agenda, but negotiations are proving to be difficult since the U. S. left the international Paris climate agreement a few weeks ago.
Greenpeace’s Susanne Neubronner said, “the millions of people threatened by climate change or already suffering its impact expect the G-20 leaders to accelerate their efforts to reduce their emissions.”
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8: 55 a.m.
International leaders are set to convene for a second day of talks on global trade, climate change and international terrorism at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg that has been overshadowed by violent riots between anti-globalization activists and police.
The summit’s host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the negotiators, including President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, European and Asian leaders, “still have a great deal of work ahead of them” to formulate the summit’s closing communique planned for Saturday. Merkel told leaders Friday they must be prepared to make compromises as she worked toward a summit outcome that everyone present could accept.
Other the topics on the agenda include the leading economic countries partnership with Africa, migration and heath.
