WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is expected to address a growing sense of protectionism in world markets by promoting stronger measures to deal with global tax evasion and money laundering at a meeting of world leaders, a White House aide said Wednesday.
Those topics will be on the agenda when Obama joins heads of state at a Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China in September.
At his final G-20 meeting, the president will also urge China to boost its economic growth by using fiscal tools, such as taxes and spending. Obama will push China to build a social safety net, and deal with its overcapacity issues, according to Adewale Adeyemo, U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics.
Obama will promote international tax reform, global anti-corruption efforts, and trade-law enforcement, Adeyemo said.
The summit in Hangzhou comes in the wake of the vote in Great Britain to leave the European Union and a presidential campaign in the United States where income inequality is expected to be among the issues before voters.
“Every time protectionism and isolationism are implemented, you will see lower growth, poorer employment, and a decrease in prosperity,” Adeyemo said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
In Washington, the International Monetary Fund has cut its 2016 global growth forecast for the fifth time in a year, because Brexit is expected to take a toll on consumer confidence and investor sentiment.
The world’s top finance ministers and central bankers will meet in Chengdu, China this weekend. G-20 economies represent 90% of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of the population.
Photo at top: Adewale Adeyemo, President Obama’s representative to G20, speaks Wednesday at a public forum in Washington. (Harvard Zhang/Medill News Service)
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