In addition, the joint agreement included a commitment by the member countries to examine the policies and practices of the World Trade Organization.

One brewing international crisis was put off, for three months. China and the U.S. agreed to a 90-day truce in what has become a widening trade dispute between the countries punctuated by retaliatory tariffs. Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump had a one-on-one meeting at the G-20 Summit, after which the truce was announced. Among the details of the truce are that China has agreed to buy more American goods and that the U.S. has agreed not to increase tariffs on Chinese goods.

Among the other agreements made by leaders attending the Summit:

• Argentina and China approved more than 30 agriculture and investment deals. China is already one of Argentina's top export markets, primarily in the agriculture sector. The latest agreements included a provision for China to buy large amounts of Argentine cherries, among other products.
• All in attendance except the United States agreed to continue to pursue strategies in confluence with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
• The leaders tasked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with improving the monitoring of debt levels in developing economies.
• The leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is intended to replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA needs Congressional approval. President Trump announced that he would be nullifying NAFTA as an incentive for Congress to approve the new trade deal.

The annual meeting of the leaders of the world's most powerful countries took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As has been the case for many years, large numbers of people gathered outside where the leaders were meeting to protest against a variety of things. This year's protesters numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

The G-20 Summit was part of an overall economics-focused meeting of an entity that began as an economic meeting to address a financial crisis. The meetings took place against a backdrop of increasing international tension, with Russian and Saudi entanglements in foreign disputes very much in the news of late.

The next G-20 meeting will in June 2019 in Osaka, Japan. Shinzo Abe, the leader of that country, will be the G-20 President for the year. The G-20 presidency rotates among the member nations. Argentina's leader, President Mauricio Macri, was in charge of the latest gathering.