G-7 trade heads seek wider support against economic coercion

Trade chiefs from developed nations emphasized on Saturday the need to strengthen their supply chains with a wider group of partners to counter economic coercion. 

India, Indonesia, Australia, Chile and Kenya — invited to the Group of Seven gathering of trade ministers in Osaka, Japan — play a key role in helping the world’s most advanced economies build resilient trade networks in a world filled with geopolitical tensions, according to the G-7.  

The foundations of global trade, traditionally anchored by the World Trade Organization, “are being shaken by increasing the use of economic coercion and market distortion measures such as opaque industrial subsidies,” Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said, without citing specific nations or instances. 

The group meets as geopolitical tensions, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, are fueling the use of trade measures such as sanctions and restrictions in order to advance nations’ security objectives. The US and China have exchanged criticism about economic coercion, while the two nations also try to keep dialogue open. 

“The vulnerabilities of economic and trade relations are highly dependent on certain countries,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said, without naming any nations. “It’s essential to strengthen the resilience of supply chains in light of economic security imperatives.”

The G-7’s outreach session, which included the five non-member nations, was also attended by Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp., Canadian fertilizer producer Canpotex, Germany’s Siemens Energy AG, London-based miner Rio Tinto and US semiconductor-laser manufacturer Coherent Corp., according to Japan’s trade ministry. 

The two-day meeting is set to end on Sunday, with a joint statement expected.