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Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
G20 finance chiefs approach consensus in South Africa despite US tariff tensions
DURBAN, July 18 (Reuters) - Finance chiefs of G20 countries expressed optimism for an agreement on a common position on trade and other global challenges on Friday despite U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs which have overshadowed their meeting. The G20, which emerged as a forum for cooperation to combat the 2008 global financial crisis, failed to reach a joint stance when finance ministers and central bankers met in February, to the dismay of hosts South Africa. An agreement now would be considered an achievement even though G20 communiques are not binding and the precise wording is unclear. Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told Reuters late on Thursday he was cautiously optimistic the meeting in the coastal city of Durban would result in a final communique. An official of another G20 country, who requested not to be identified, expressed similar optimism. South Africa, under its presidency's motto "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability", has aimed to promote an African agenda, with topics including the high cost of capital and funding for climate change action. Delegates at the meeting sought to agree lines on global economic challenges, including the uncertainty created by trade tensions, as well as wording on climate finance. Two delegates said the challenge was establishing what language Washington would accept, a task made harder by the absence of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from the two-day meeting. Bessent skipped February's Cape Town gathering as well, which several officials from China, Japan and Canada also did not attend, even though Washington is due to assume the G20 rotating presidency in December. Bessent's absence was not ideal, but the U.S. had been engaging in discussions on trade, the global economy and climate language, said a G20 delegate, who asked not to be named. Finance ministers from Brazil, China, India, France and Russia also missed the Durban meeting, though South Africa's Central Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said what mattered was that all G20 countries were represented. In opening remarks on Thursday, South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the G20 had a critical role to reinforce rules-based cooperation and drive collective action on global challenges that no country could solve alone. "The need for bold cooperative leadership has never been greater," he said.
Zawya
7 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
G20 finance chiefs to meet under tariff cloud in South Africa
DURBAN: G20 finance chiefs will meet in South Africa on Thursday under the shadow of President Donald Trump's tariff threats and questions over their ability to tackle global challenges together. The club, which came to fore as a forum for international cooperation to combat the global financial crisis, has for years been hobbled by disputes among key players exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow. Host South Africa, under its presidency motto "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," has aimed to promote an African agenda, with topics including the high cost of capital and funding for climate change action. The G20 aims to coordinate policies but its agreements are non-binding. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend the two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the coastal city of Durban, marking his second absence from a G20 event in South Africa this year. Bessent also skipped February's Cape Town gathering, where several officials from China, Japan and Canada were also absent, even though Washington is due to assume the G20 rotating presidency at the end of the year. Michael Kaplan, U.S. acting undersecretary for international affairs, will represent Washington at the meetings. A G20 delegate, who asked not to be named, said Bessent's absence was not ideal but that the United States was engaging in discussions on trade, the global economy and climate language. Finance ministers from India, France and Russia are also set to miss the Durban meeting. South Africa's central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said that representation was what mattered most. "What matters is, is there somebody with a mandate sitting behind the flag and are all countries represented with somebody sitting behind the flag?" Kganyago told Reuters. U.S. officials have said little publicly about their plans for the presidency next year, but one source familiar with the plans said Washington would reduce the number of non-financial working groups, and streamline the summit schedule. Brad Setser, a former U.S. official now at the Council on Foreign Relations, said he expected it to be "kind of a scaled-back G20 with less expectation of substantive outcomes." 'TURBULENT TIMES' Trump's tariff policies have torn up the global trade rule book. With baseline levies of 10% on all U.S. imports and targeted rates as high as 50% on steel and aluminium, 25% on autos and potential levies on pharmaceuticals, extra tariffs on more than 20 countries are slated to take effect on August 1. His threat to impose further 10% tariffs on BRICS nations — of which eight are G20 members — has raised fears of fragmentation within global forums. German finance ministry sources said on Tuesday that the Durban meeting would seek to deepen global relationships in "turbulent times". South Africa's Treasury Director General Duncan Pieterse said the group nonetheless hoped to issue the first communique under the South African G20 presidency by the end of the meetings. The G20 was last able to take a mutually agreed stance to issue a communique in July of 2024, agreeing on the need to resist protectionism but making no mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Kopano Gumbi, Colleen Goko, Philip Blenkinsop, Maria Martinez in Durban, Andrea Shalal in Washington; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
