G-20:
- G-20 is NOT AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION. It neither has any administrative board nor a permanent secretariat. Thus, it does not adopt decisions that have a direct legal impact.
- Rather, it is an informal forum for international cooperation on financial issues to ensure international “financial stability”.
- Members: It comprises 19 countries plus the EU. These countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and USA.
- Background: The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors had been meeting regularly since 1999. However, since 2008 (when the financial crisis broke out) G20 has met annually at head of state and government level.
2018 summit: Key Highlights
- It was held on 30 November and 1 December 2018 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the first G20 summit to be hosted in South America.
- Summit Theme: Building consensus for fair and sustainable development.
- NAFTA: On 30 November, ahead of the formal start of the summit, United States, Mexico and Canada signed a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has been dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
- Trade war: US President agreed to hold off on plans to raise tariffs on January 1,2019 on 200 billion dollars in Chinese goods. In return, Chinese President agreed to buy substantial amount of products from the US to reduce America’s huge trade deficit with China.
- WTO: All G20 leaders called for reforming the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the issue will be discussed during the group’s next summit in Osaka, Japan, in June.
- Climate change: The final communique signed by all 20-member nations said 19 of them reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris climate accord. The only exception was the US, which has withdrawn from the pact under Mr. Trump.
- India to host G20 summit in 2022: It was decided that India will host the G20 Summit In 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence.
