June 9, 2019 10:56 AMFUKUOKA: Group of 20 finance leaders agreed to describe trade and geopolitical tensions as “intensified” and pledged to take further action to address these economic risks, three G20 sources said as a second day of meetings got underway on Sunday.
The Buenos Aires meeting launched a five-month trade truce between the United States and China to allow for negotiations to end their deepening trade war. But those talks hit an impasse last month, prompting higher tariffs on both Chinese and US goods as the conflict nears the end of its first year. The final communique will also say the G20 leaders “will continue to address these risks and stand ready to take further action,” the source told Reuters. “We reaffirm our leaders’ conclusion on trade at the Buenos Aires summit.”
Mnuchin described the meeting as having parallels to the two presidents’ Dec. 1 meeting in Buenos Aires, when Trump was poised to hike tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods.