MAR DEL PLATA: Trade and investment ministers from G20 countries meeting in Argentina said there was an “urgent need” to improve the World Trade Organization, a joint statement said on Friday.
With US President Donald Trump readying tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods, the ministers said they were “stepping up the dialogue” on international trade disputes, according to the statement issued at the summit.
It did not provide any details of possible WTO reforms or how dialogue on trade was being increased.
“Obviously the new tariff measures are not positive,” Argentina’s Production and Labor Minister, Dante Sica, said in a news conference at the end of the one-day meeting. “But we need to see how things evolve.”
German Deputy Economy Minister Oliver Wittke said the joint declaration sent a powerful signal about the importance of strengthening WTO “especially in times of ‘America first’ and increasing global protectionism,” with next steps to follow when G20 leaders meet in Argentina at the end of November.
“We have to use this momentum,” Wittke said in a statement released by the ministry after the summit.
Outside the meeting, smoke filled the air in the normally tranquil seaside city of Mar Del Plata where the conference is being held. Protesters burned makeshift American flags and chanted against free trade orthodoxy and Trump’s support of Argentina’s cash-strapped President Mauricio Macri, whose fiscal belt-tightening has garnered a backlash from the country’s working-class.
“We’re standing here in solidarity with the workers of Latin America. While those politicians sleep in fancy beds, communities starve because of trade and adjustment policies that hurt the most vulnerable,” protester Maralin Cornil, 30, said.
Argentina holds the G20’s rotating presidency this year, and is re-negotiating a $50 billion stand-by financing deal with the IMF, cutting its fiscal deficit targets and reducing costs to ensure it can continue paying its international debts.
Trump has said he would attend the summit’s final meeting with other heads of state, in Buenos Aires on November 30.
The Trump administration has demanded that China cut its $375 billion trade surplus with the United States, end policies aimed at acquiring US technologies and intellectual property, and roll back high-tech industrial subsidies.
While Trump has threatened to pull the United States from the WTO, China has called for WTO reform to make the global trade system fairer and more effective.
The 23-year-old trading club is run on the basis of consensus, meaning that every one of its 164 members has an effective veto and it is almost impossible to get agreement on any change to the rules.
Sica also said that talks on a free trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay were wrapping up, with an agreement likely by the end of the year.
“We are in the final stages regarding the most delicate aspects of an EU-Mercosur agreement and we are concluding with the political and technical details,” Sica said.
G20 trade ministers say WTO reform ‘urgent’ as new Trump tariffs loom
G20 trade ministers say WTO reform ‘urgent’ as new Trump tariffs loom
- Trump has said he would attend the summit’s final meeting with other heads of state, in Buenos Aires on November 30
- The Trump administration has demanded that China cut its $375 billion trade surplus with the United States
Closing Bell: Saudi main market closes the week in red at 10,526
RIYADH: Saudi equities ended Thursday’s session modestly lower, with the Tadawul All Share Index slipping 14.63 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 10,526.09.
The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index also declined 3.66 points, or 0.26 percent, to 1,389.66. In contrast, the parallel market outperformed, as Nomu jumped 237.72 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 23,430.93.
Market breadth on the main market remained tilted to the downside, with 156 stocks ending lower against 99 gainers.
Trading activity eased further, with volumes reaching 80.46 million shares and total traded value amounting to SR1.66 billion ($442 million).
On the movers’ board, Saudi Industrial Export Co. led the gainers, rising 6.6 percent to SR2.10, followed by Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding Co., which advanced 6.43 percent to SR9.60.
Raoom Trading Co. climbed 4.36 percent to SR61.05, while Astra Industrial Group gained 4.35 percent to close at SR139. Riyadh Cables Group Co. added 3.77 percent to end the session at SR135.00.
On the downside, Methanol Chemicals Co. topped the losers’ list, falling 5.96 percent to SR7.41.
Flynas Co. retreated 5.43 percent to SR61.00, while Leejam Sports Co. dropped 5 percent to close at SR100.80.
Alramz Real Estate Co. slipped 4.64 percent to SR55.50, and Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. declined 4.55 percent to SR84.00.
On the announcement front, ACWA Power said it has completed the financial close for the Ras Mohaisen First Water Desalination Co., a reverse osmosis desalination project with a capacity of up to 300,000 cubic meters per day, alongside associated potable water storage facilities totaling 600,000 cubic meters in Saudi Arabia’s Western Province.
The project was financed through a consortium of local and international banks, with total funding of SR2.07 billion and a tenor of up to 29.5 years, while ACWA Power holds an effective 45 percent equity stake.
Shares of ACWA Power ended the session at SR185.90, up SR0.2, or 0.11 percent.
Meanwhile, Consolidated Grunenfelder Saady Holding Co. announced the sign-off of a customized solutions project with Saudi Aramco Nabors Drilling Co., valued at SR166.0 million excluding VAT.
The 24-month contract covers the sale and maintenance of field camp facilities, with the financial impact expected to begin from the first quarter of 2026.
