Finance leaders pledge to protect economic growth from trade tensions, but don't call for U.S.-China resolution

G-20 Finance Summit. — (Image credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 wrapped up a meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, on Sunday with a pledge to do all they can to protect global economic growth from trade tensions and other issues.

In a joint communiqué, the finance leaders from the world's 20 major economies said that risks from trade battles were "intensifying," though the statement refrained from mentioning any specific conflict by name, including the growing rift between the United States and China.

The communiqué also said the leaders expect global growth, which is currently stable, to pick up later this year. However, the final version of the communiqué did not include a statement calling for the "pressing need to resolve trade tensions" that was bracketed in an earlier draft, meaning that not every official agreed to its inclusion in the final version. In fact, "fiery" negotiations over the language of the communiqué nearly derailed its issuance, Reuters reports.

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The finance leaders also agreed to come up with a common rules system by 2020 to close loopholes used by tech giants, including Facebook and Google, to reduce their corporate tax rates.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.