A big blow to Trump in Hamburg: The leaders of the world powers turned their back on America

US President Donald Trump remained isolated in his approach to global warming, as a group of the largest economic powers at the G20 summit in Hamburg with other countries called for the rapid implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Accord and its rapid implementation," he writes in the final document. Trump announced last month that the US withdraws from the agreement reached in 2015. The G20 rejected Trump's call for re-negotiation of the Paris Accord, saying members considered the agreement to be "irreversible." "We note the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord," it is stated in the final document.

In addition to trade, climate change was one of the most controversial issues of the two-day summit. The official negotiators have been continually working 24 hours to try to reach an agreement on these two issues. Earlier, the G20 leaders agreed to continue fighting anti-protectionism and promote free trade, but found a way to accommodate Trump's nationalist economic agenda, "America First", according to the final declarations draft.

"Our markets remain open, with reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade and investment frameworks, while respecting the principle of non-discrimination," said the leaders of countries that waste 85 percent of world economic activity, "continue fighting the protectionism, including unfair trade Practice and in that sense acknowledge legitimate defense instruments. "

The second part of the sentence was important to Trump's support of the text and to support some of the measures against trade practices that the United States considers to be dishonest. The G20 also urged some members, especially China, to reduce the overcapacity of their steel sector due to threats to US sanctions, as part of measures to stop damping prices and cut steel imports into China. "We reaffirm our commitment to further strengthening trade and investment cooperation within the G20," the statement concludes.

Trump has sharply criticized globalization and existing trade agreements, claiming that America is losing jobs. But in a joint statement, G20 leaders say, "International trade and investment is an important engine for economic growth, productivity, innovation, job creation and development."

The US, which with the arrival of Trump in the White House strengthened the policy of protectionism, has hitherto hesitated to engage "in the fight against protectionism" within G20, so it refused to mention that word in a statement from the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Baden-Baden in March, but agreed to be included in the statement of the G7 summit, which includes the most developed countries of the world, but not China, a great trading force.

Trump points out that the goal of US protectionism is to protect US tensions from the effects of globalization. On the other hand, Chinese and Russian President XI Jinping and Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly support free trade and warn of the damaging consequences of economic protectionism.

• 8 Jul, 2017
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