
Two issues that were paramount, both of which the G20 couldn't gain full support for, were in the areas of trade and climate change. And if we take a look at some of the statistics available it's easy to see why the President sees things the way he does.
Donald Trump was elected President by running a campaign of putting America first. And unless you've had your head buried in sand for the last decade, it's very clear to see how the industrial and creative of power of America has withered on the vine, largely due to our own malfeasance with some questionable and unworkable regulations as well as entering into agreements that have often been stacked against America. It started with NAFTA, which Trump is working on renegotiating, and some of the newer and broader agreements that have at least been temporarily put on hold. And Trump isn't trying to destroy the concept of Free Trade, he just wants it to be Fair Trade as well, and that takes a good negotiator, not a federal careerist who can't find his way on a road outside of the Beltway.
Here are some of the recent statistics to back up his points regarding trade. They were provided by the IMF Director of Trade Statistics. They show the deficit in billions by G20 nation that the United States ran up in 2016 under current trade agreements: China $327B, Mexico $104B, Germany $66B, Japan $63B, as the biggest concerns. The only G20 nations having a deficit to the United States were Argentina, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Australia and these were minor by comparison. And remember, European Union members don't have autonomy in their trading decisions, they must fall within the purview of rigid bureaucratic requirements in place.
A major concern of Trump and others has been the dumping of steel on the market by the Chinese, a nation that traditionally has played loose with the rules. The final communique made note of that at the end of the meeting as Trump vows to continue to push the issue; his desire to retool and modernize the American steel industry is well known.
With regard to the other big issue, climate change, let's look at some statistics before discussion. The statistics displayed are courtesy of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy and cover the time frame 1990-2016. Here are the breakdowns of the three G20 members who have seen an increase in greenhouse emissions during that period: China +292%, India +276% and the United States +3.7%. Notice that the nation with the greatest financial and economic burden under the terms of the agreement, the United States, has a miniscule increase while China and India, growing rapidly and spewing massive volumes of bi-products into the atmosphere, have no reduction requirements set until 2030. And the statistics don't show a breakdown of how these totals have headed, for we know that the United States has made major strides in recent years which probably have a dramatic effect when looked at against the whole of the time period covered.
The Paris Accord is nothing but a United Nations and European Union (they are tied at the hip on this) money grab for which America was expected to shoulder by far the biggest burden. Trump realized it, called them on it, and stepped away from it. And neither May, Merkel or Macron could sway his opinion because, as he always said he was doing, he is looking out for America first. He is determined to leave the final resolution of any issues impacting America to be handled within our own sovereign nation, not to be dictated by an unseen bureaucratic body half way around the world.
Now you can agree or disagree with his action as is your right to do, but you can't deny that he is doing what he told the voters he would do when elected. And after so many years of American leaders saying one thing and doing the opposite, Trump's action is refreshing. The world isn't going to disappear under water in one hundred years, it's been here a long time and dealt with much more than the audacity of man, so get a grip on things and face the truth. None of the doomsday predictions of the past have come true and since the people who make them, so called climatologists, can't even tell us if it will rain or not this afternoon, recognize their scam for what it is. It is being uncovered in fast order.