Free Trade

G20 statement drops anti-protectionism, climate change clauses

Breaking a decade-long tradition of endorsing open trade, G20 finance ministers and central bankers made only a token reference to trade in their communique on Saturday, a clear defeat for host nation Germany which fought the new US government's attempts to water down past commitments.

That was just a year after the group, made up of the world's 20 largest economies, vowed to "resist all forms of protectionism".