G20: battle with Trump on the climate, the agreement on trade

AFP
Donald Trump, Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau.

AFP

Saturday, July 8, 2017 08:49

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Saturday, July 8, 2017 08:49

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Donald Trump bataillait Saturday at the G20 summit with other world leaders on the climate issue, a compromise was found on the other topic of controversy to the summit, the trade protectionism.

The two-day meeting of the top twenty economies of the world ends in the afternoon at Hamburg in Germany in a climate heavy, violent protests continued in the city.

They have already caused dozens of casualties and significant damage.

In commercial matters, the u.s. president worried for months its key partners for its attempts at protectionist, its motto standing on the “America first” and its threats of charges against China or Europe.

At the G20, a compromise between condemnation of protectionism and the right to defend himself and was found with Washington, said a european sources and a source close to the French presidency.

The final declaration of the summit will thus condemn explicitly the ” protectionism “, referring to the tradition of the g-20, which was repeated for years this antiphon.

The United States was very reluctant. They had refused to do so during a meeting of G20 Finance ministers in march, before agreeing to the G7 summit in may, with the notable difference that China, a giant in the commercial that is of concern to Washington, not sitting in the G7.

Washington has obtained a concession in exchange for his reversal: the final communiqué will recognize the country’s right to use “instruments for legitimate defense purposes”, according to the source.

Anti-dumping

It “reflects quite well the position that you are defending, the fight against protectionism and anti-dumping, it is a position that we are going well,” says a source close to the French presidency.

The French president Emmanuel Macron leads this battle by arguing for a “Europe that protects” at european level.

This is the first time in the history of the G20 as the possible use of these instruments of defence trade is mentioned.

Regarding the climate, the G20 will take note of the output of the Member-States of the Paris Agreement to combat global warming, and the country’s isolation on the issue: all other countries consider that the international agreement is ” irreversible “, according to the draft text.

But the question is whether Washington will succeed in including a sentence confirming his desire to develop a use “cleaner” fossil fuels, such as shale gas, against the current of the objective of an economy that is less wasteful of carbon.

The United States have particular dangled in the countries of eastern Europe, who are looking to reduce their energy dependence from Russia, the sale of liquid gas, american.

This element of the final declaration, however, remains very discussed and it will be up to Donald Trump to convince itself of its counterparts, the advisers could not agree.

“This statement is troublesome, but it is in the american position, what we want is that there is no contagion effect”, beyond the United States, according to the source of the Elysium.

“Debacle”

The G20 two-day was for the remains marked by the very first encounter between Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart. The american president has described Saturday this maintenance of ” great “.

Donald Trump has also hold Saturday a new wedge between the Europeans promising the Uk a trade agreement ” very, very quickly “, then in principle that London has not the right to conclude such a treaty as long as it is not taken out of the european Union (EU).

The G20 will remain regardless of what happens as the more tense and electric in the history both inside meeting rooms and outside.

The protesters anti-G20, 20 000 people, continued to march Saturday in the streets of Hamburg after violent clashes since Thursday between protesters and police.

According to the police nearly 200 police officers were slightly injured.

Some areas of the city offer a spectacle of desolation, with cars burnt and the remains of barricades.

Donald Trump congratulated on Saturday Angela Merkel, who holds the presidency of the G20, for his remarkable work ” in spite of the protests.

The German chancellor, is nevertheless the subject of severe criticism in his country, where he is accused of having organised such a summit in the city centre.

“In Hamburg, the State has failed”, stated Saturday, the most popular newspaper in Germany, Bild, “this debacle as the debacle”.