Leaders from the Group of 20 have failed to reach an accord on settling their disagreements over exchange rates and global trade imbalances.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who attended the two-day summit and had been hoping for progress in those areas, acknowledged at the end of the meetings on Friday that he and his fellow leaders had fallen short.

But he said the major industrialized and developing nations who form the G20 have recognized that these are “tough” issues that cannot be ignored.

“I think it’s fair to say we did not resolve those issues here,” Mr. Harper told reporters at a news conference.

But he said the G20 has set up a process for continued talks with a “timeline” to make progress.

“These are not going to be easy issues to resolve. But I think we’ve got everyone talking the same language, everyone understanding longer term what has to be done. For some countries the adjustment here will not be easy. But as I said, I think we’re at least keeping things on a path.”

The political leaders came here with the desire to make advances from the last summit in Toronto, where they set out a long-term goal of sustaining the global economic recovery.

Significant achievements evaded them on the two most contentious issues on their agenda in Seoul: Exchange rates and trade imbalances.

For months, G20 leaders have complained about China’s refusal to allow a more flexible exchange rate of its currency, which many believe is a deliberate practice to devalue the currency and make Chinese exports cheaper to buy. China’s trading partners says this is an unfair practice which distorts global trade.

In their communique, all the leaders could agree upon was some diplomatically cautious wording that doesn’t force any of the member nations to adopt specific changes in policy.

“We will move toward more market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying economic fundamentals and retrain from competitive devaluation of currencies,” said the leaders in their closing declaration.

But that is barely a start for the G20 nations that want a specific commitment from China that its currency will not be devalued.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the Chinese policy on devaluing its yuan is an irritant to many of its trading partners, not just the U.S.

“China has the opportunity to be a responsible partner,” said Mr. Obama.

The other point of contention at the summit involved the wide trading imbalance between major nations.

At the heart of this issue is the “current-account balance,” which describes a country’s net trade in goods and services.

Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. have current-account deficits while major exporters, such as China, Germany and Japan, have surpluses. The U.S. proposed that by 2015, countries should limit their current-account balances — whether surplus or deficit — to no more than four per cent of GDP.

That would force countries like China and Germany to rely less on exports and focus on their domestic markets.

The U.S proposal for targets — which is backed by Canada — didn’t get much support at the G20.

Nonetheless, Mr. Harper said it’s still an issue that the leaders need to grapple with.

“I don’t think there’s anything here that speaks to collapse in the global economy or an immediate problem,” said the prime minister about the lack of a deal on the key issues this week.

“But to really realize the maximum potential of the global economy going forward, we do have to get an agreement on this framework, and on resolution of the global imbalance question. These things did not happen overnight. They’re not going to be fixed overnight. And they do involve some significant structural adjustment for some countries.”

At the end of the G20 summit, Mr. Harper was scheduled to travel to Yokohama, Japan to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting over the weekend.