First Skirmish of G-20 Sets Scene for Battle of Trade Ideas

  • Protectionism no longer explicitly shunned in communique
  • Leaders will meet in July as EU warns against ‘any rollback’

G-20 Drops 'Ant-Protectionism' From Communique

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As global finance chiefs return from their first collective engagement with the Trump administration, they’re bringing home a load of unfinished business.

While the weekend meeting of the Group of 20 in the German spa town of Baden-Baden kept up its tradition of a communique to present a veneer of agreement, it only did so by papering over new cracks in the order underpinning the world economy. Barely hinting at the merits of free trade, the statement’s omissionsBloomberg Terminal show how global economic diplomacy is now beset with a fault line that could overshadow it for months, if not years.