The leaders of the world’s largest economic powers on Saturday backed an overhaul of the global body that regulates international trade disputes, ahead of high-stakes talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at defusing a trade war.
The Group of 20 industrialized nations called for reforms to the crisis-stricken World Trade Organization amid growing global trade tensions, in a final statement from a two-day gathering in Argentina.
The communique, which was finalized after delegates worked through the night on Friday, recognized trade as an important engine of global growth but made only a passing reference to “the current trade issues,” without providing any details.
“We recognize the contribution that the multilateral trading system has made,” the statement read. “The system is currently falling short of its objectives and there is room for improvement. We therefore support the necessary reform of the WTO to improve its functioning. We will review progress at our next Summit,” it said.
The WTO is on the verge of becoming dysfunctional, just when it is most needed to fulfill its role as umpire in trade disputes and as the watchdog of global…
