Vol. 73/No. 39      October 12, 2009

At the meeting, the G-20 designated itself “the premier forum” for international economic cooperation, in place of the G8—governments of the seven major imperialist powers and Russia. G-20 members include the imperialist governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom as well as China, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey. The European Union is the 20th member. The G-20 countries produce 85 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.

With production and trade declining on a world scale, Washington projected that China and Japan should export less, focusing instead on domestic demand, and that working people living in the United States should save more and spend less. German chancellor Angela Merkel took issue with this projection. Germany’s economy is fueled by exports.

Differences also emerged with British and French representatives over the Barack Obama administration’s projections of overhauling the International Monetary Fund. Washington wants to reduce seats by European representatives on the IMF board of directors and possibly add representatives from countries like China and India. This proposal “exasperated” the British and French officials, noted the Financial Times.

The meeting called for phasing out $300 billion worth of fossil fuel subsidies over time, a proposal promoted by Obama. The U.S. government provided $72 billion in subsidies to oil and natural gas companies between 2002 and 2008, according to the Environmental Law Institute. China and India also have large fuel subsidy programs.

In a protectionist move, Washington is threatening to impose “green tariffs” on imports from countries failing to set what it considers acceptable emissions targets.  
 
 
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