At their summit held in Hangzhou (China) on Sunday 4 and Monday 5 September, the countries of the G20 agreed to set in place a global forum on overcapacity in the steel sector, to be headed up by the OECD and with an interim report anticipated in 2017.
The leaders of the club of the 20 largest economies on the planet agreed to acknowledge that production overcapacity and certain industrial sectors, particularly steel, with its "negative effects on trade and workers", constituted a "global challenge" calling for "collective responses", reads the final declaration of the summit. They also recognised that subsidies and other aid provided by states or state-backed organisations could create distortions on the market and contribute to overcapacity.
The G20 countries therefore undertake to "reinforce communication and cooperation and to take effective measures to deal with these challenges to improve the functioning of the market and set the conditions in place for an adjustment", for instance by means of the global forum on steel overcapacity, which will be headed up by the OECD with the active participation of the member countries of the G20.
China, which is widely held to be the number one culprit in the matter of steel overcapacity due to its generous subsidies to steel producers, many of which are state-owned groups, and which was not referred to in the final statement, agreed to take part in the forum.
The discussions underway within the EU on whether the bloc should grant China market economy status and the work to complete the anti-dumping margins to be applied to it, as well as the determination shown by the G7 countries, at the Ise-Shima summit in May, to take rapid action in this dossier – the United States having increased its customs duty on certain Chinese steel products to prohibitive levels whilst the EU has multiplied its anti-doping measures targeting Chinese steel products – have unquestionably played a part in encouraging Beijing to show increased cooperation on this dossier.
Appeasing anti-globalisation sentiment. More generally, the G20 leaders reaffirmed their commitment in favour of free trade and against protectionism, also agreeing to communicate better and to distribute the profits from trade and greater market openness.
Arguing that it is necessary for trade and investment to grow in order to consolidate growth at global level, but noting with "concern" the sluggish growth at global level, the G20 countries pledge to "promote an open global economy by facilitating and liberalising trade and investment".
With regard to this, they reiterated their determination to guarantee a rules-based multilateral trade system which is transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive, in which the WTO plays a central role, and stressed their commitment to move forward negotiations on the outstanding issues of the Doha Round, also agreeing to discuss new issues in a WTO framework, such as electronic trade.
The members of the G20 taking part in the negotiations for an agreement on the liberalisation of environmental goods reaffirmed their goal of concluding an agreement by the end of this year.
The G20 countries also reaffirmed their opposition to all forms of protectionism and extended their commitment to maintain the status quo and dismantle restrictive measures until the end of 2018.
In this context, in view of the growing hostility, at global level, to globalisation, the countries of the G20 agreed that the "general public should be more effectively informed of the benefits of trade and market openness and that this measure should be accompanied by appropriate national policies in order to guarantee a broader distribution of the benefits". The G20 is determined to tackle populist attacks on globalisation by placing greater emphasis in its discourse on the benefits of global trade for the population, the Director General of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, explained on Monday.
As regards investment, the G20 leaders enshrined the guiding principles of their club of countries in favour of an open and transparent framework for investment at global level.
Lastly, the G20 lends its support to policies encouraging enterprises of all sizes, particularly for women and young entrepreneurs, businesses led by women and SMEs, and businesses supporting a better integration of the developing countries into global trade, encouraging them to take full advantage of global value chains. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)