BADEN-BADEN, Germany — U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin headed into a tussle over free trade Friday at a summit that will help set the tone for the global economy.
The Group of 20 gathering will be dominated by the question of how strongly to oppose trade protectionism, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose border taxes and rewrite free trade deals.
The focus will be on a joint statement that is being prepared for Saturday. So far, officials at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting in the German spa town of Baden-Baden haven't been able agree on whether to confirm their longstanding opposition to protectionism, the use of import taxes and rules by a country to shield its own companies.
Early drafts of their final joint statement have dropped the ban on protectionism but there was no agreement on what to replace it with, or exactly how to put their position into words, said officials who briefed reporters Friday only on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing.
Deputies assigned to work out the details ahead of time had to leave the matter for the ministers, who will begin their meetings Friday.
The meeting's host, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, told reporters that "no one has mentioned protectionism" and that the statement was rather about "the right formulation regarding the openness of the world economy."
Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, downplayed differences over the exact language.
He told The Associated Press it was "important to create a comfort zone" where leaders could have their first discussions with the new administration, "to make them feel that this is a place where we can talk, we can ventilate the areas where we have common ground and the areas where we may have differences." The OECD is one of several international organizations invited to participate in the meeting.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.