Biden G7, NATO to-do list: unite allies, fight autocracy, attack COVID-19

[June 07, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's meeting with leaders of the G7 leading industrial economies in an English seaside village this week will usher in a new focus on rallying U.S. allies against common adversaries - the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia and China.

New COVID-19 variants and rising death tolls in some countries will loom large during the gathering from Friday to Sunday, alongside climate change, strengthening global supply chains and ensuring the West maintains its technological edge over China, the world's second-largest economy.

Biden, a Democrat, vowed to rebuild relations with allies after four rocky years under former President Donald Trump, who pulled Washington out of several multilateral institutions and threatened at one point to quit NATO.

"In this moment of global uncertainty, as the world still grapples with a once-in-a-century pandemic, this trip is about realizing America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners," Biden wrote in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Saturday.

The gathering will put Biden's "America is back" motto to the test, with allies disillusioned during the Trump years looking for tangible, lasting action.

It is a pivotal moment for the United States and the world, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on CNN on Sunday.

"Is international cooperation going to be restored or are we still in this world where nationalism, protectionism and to some extent isolationism are dominating?" Brown asked.

UNITING AGAINST RUSSIA

Russia will be at the forefront of attention at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, and the days afterward when Biden meets with European leaders and NATO allies in Brussels, before heading to Geneva to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The recent ransomware attack on JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, by a criminal group likely based in Russia, and Putin's financial backing for Belarus after it forced a Ryanair flight to land so it could arrest a dissident journalist on board, are pushing U.S. officials to consider sharper action.

On the sidelines of the NATO summit, Biden is also expected to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a crucial session between the sparring NATO allies after Ankara's purchase of Russian defense systems angered Washington and risked driving a wedge within the alliance.

CORPORATE TAX HIKES

G7 finance ministers reached a landmark global deal on Saturday to set a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%, potentially hitting giant tech companies like Alphabet Inc's Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc. Biden and his counterparts will give the deal their final blessing in Cornwall.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at an annual Memorial Day Service at Veterans Memorial Park, Delaware Memorial Bridge, New Castle, Delaware, U.S., May 30, 2021. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

COVID-19 AND IP WAIVERS

The Biden administration, which on Thursday detailed its plans to donate 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of June, is leaning heavily on allies to follow suit as the global pandemic death toll approaches 4 million, U.S. and diplomatic sources say.

Washington reversed course last month and backed negotiations over waivers for intellectual property protections at the World Trade Organization to speed vaccine production in developing countries, much to the chagrin of Germany and Britain.

European diplomats say they see little common ground on the issue, and argue that any WTO compromise would take months to finalize and implement. That may prove a moot point if sufficient vaccine doses are shared with developing countries to slow - and eventually halt - the pandemic.

CLIMATE CHANGE DISCLOSURES

Biden announced plans in May to require U.S. government contractors and financial institutions to be more transparent about the climate change risks faced by their investments, and administration officials are pushing other countries to adopt similar plans.

The UK also wants governments to require businesses to report such risks as a way to boost investment in green projects. But agreement on a way forward is unlikely to come in June. A deal could emerge at a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

G7 countries also have different views on carbon pricing, which the International Monetary Fund views as a key way to curb carbon dioxide emissions and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

CHINA'S FORCED LABOR

The Biden administration will urge allies to unite against China over allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang province, home to the Muslim Uighur minority, even as it seeks to maintain Beijing as an ally in the climate change fight.
 

Sources following the discussions say they expect G7 leaders to adopt strong language on the forced labor issue. China denies all accusations of abuse in Xinjiang.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Peter Cooney)

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