BERLIN: Germany will emphasize the benefits of globalization when the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations meet later this week in Washington, where officials will stay clear of issuing a joint statement amid ongoing conflicting views over free trade, according to the German finance ministry.
“We are ready to exchange views with our international partners on the advantages of globalization and a global economy based on the division of labor, and the U.S. is one of the foremost (partners),” said a German finance ministry official on Tuesday at a briefing on the upcoming meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
“We will say which risks we see should this world no longer act globally and if it was to be fragmented and embraced protectionism and which disadvantages would be associated with this for all national economies. I believe this exchange of views is an extremely important exchange and this is what (the meeting in) Washington is especially for.”
Germany holds this year’s G-20 presidency and is pushing hard to promote free trade, given its economy’s dependency on exports, particularly since the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump appears to be pushing toward what critics say is a more protectionist policy.
At their meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, last month, G-20 officials struggled to find common ground on boosting trade. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin persuaded finance officials to drop a disavowal of protectionism from a closely watched policy statement issued by the G-20.
As the positions have changed little since the gathering nearly five weeks ago, no communiqué will be issued. Instead, the group will allow more time for discussions before the gathering of G-20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany, in July, according to a German official.
A second key issue will be Germany’s high current-account surplus, the German official said, adding that Germany doesn’t manipulate the euro and that it is up to other eurozone countries to boost reforms and help improve their own economies.
In its role as G-20 chair, Germany has made strengthening member countries’ resilience one of its top priorities.
A second official said at the German briefing that the global economic outlook had improved and it would now be the right time to implement principles, such as increasing sustainable growth, that the G-20 countries agreed on at their meeting in Baden-Baden in March.
Additionally, the first official noted that the Washington meeting was expected to be the first in seven years in which Greece’s ongoing financial problems and high debt wouldn’t be an issue.
