Morrison’s G20 plan to push UK trade pact

Scott Morrison will hold meetings with UK Prime Minister Theresa May to ensure trade negotiations remain on track.

Scott Morrison will hold meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May at this week’s critical G20 meeting in Argentina to ensure trade negotiations with both Britain and the EU remain on track amid uncertainty surrounding the proposed new Brexit deal.

The summit of world leaders is already being cast as one of the most important in decades due to the US-China trade war and with Donald Trump threatening to cancel talks with Vladimir Putin over Russia’s use of naval force against Ukraine.

All eyes will also be on a meeting between Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with hopes agreement can be reached to de-escalate trade hostilities between the two largest economies.

While Mr Morrison, who will depart for South America tonight, does not have a formal meeting with Mr Trump, he is expected to meet the US President on the sidelines of the summit.

The Prime Minister has confirmed he will use the summit to shift Australia’s immediate focus to Europe. He is expected to hold formal meetings with Mrs May and several other European leaders with the aim of furthering ­negotiations on trade deals with Europe and Britain.

Australia has expressed some concerns over the preliminary Brexit deal, which allows for the UK’s exit from the EU Customs union to be extended in specific circumstances.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told The Australian a vague deadline could become an “irritant” in any future British-Australia trade deal.

It is understood Mr Morrison is also expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who is staring down civil unrest over fuel tax hikes, as well as other ­European leaders. The meeting with Mr Macron, who famously struck a close relationship with Malcolm Turnbull at last year’s G20 meeting in Hamburg, follows France’s recent ­attempts to frustrate the EU trade deal with Australia unless it kept its commitment to the Paris target climate change agreement.

Global trade tensions, which have divided Australia and the US, are expected to weigh heavily on the summit. Australia has recently aligned with a significant coalition, including China and the EU, on a push to reform the WTO and stop the Trump administration undermining the global trading body. The coalition has proposed rules to fix the WTO dispute-settlement system, which the US has been refusing to appoint new judges to, leaving it close to collapse.

Argentinian ambassador to Australia Hugo Gobbi has warned Canberra against hoping for an end to the US-China trade war at the G20 meeting.

“It would be wishful thinking to say everything will be solved in the next meeting. The tensions and the differences are very big,” he told The Australian.

“This situation is creating many disruptions in the system … and it will have economic costs.’’

Mr Gobbi said the global trade system was “not perfect” but had been working: “Powerful countries have been respecting the outcomes so that shows restraint and it shows an engagement.”

Labor yesterday attacked Treasurer Josh Frydenberg after he confirmed he would not attend the summit, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann travelling to Argentina in his place. Chris Bowen said Mr Frydenberg’s decision to pull out of the meeting was a “missed opportunity” for Australia’s economic interests.

Additional reporting: Cameron Stewart