Bessent Says 19 Finance Ministers Agreed ‘Cheap Exports’ Are Unsustainable, but China Dissented – WTOP News
Bessent said the agreement shows the scale of trade imbalances as the U.S. pushes tariffs and other measures to curb Chinese exports.
- On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that 19 G20 members agreed to address "cheap exports" causing global imbalances, while China dissented at the Asheville, North Carolina summit.
- Bessent warned that "non-market based economies" drive unsustainable export streams, citing China's record-high $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025 as a barrier to global growth.
- Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov's attendance "created a lot of discomfort," while Bessent noted common ground with China on Iran.
- Bessent called gaining 19-nation consensus "incredible," stating countries will take action in coming "days, weeks or months" to resolve the "unsustainable equilibrium."
- President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss AI policy later this month, as the administration eyes an additional 7.5% tariff on Chinese imports.
38 Articles
38 Articles
Finance officials from the G20 countries, excluding China, have agreed to address trade imbalances caused by some economies' overreliance on exports. The announcement comes after two days of G20 talks in Asheville, North Carolina. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the agreement by the 19 countries "incredible," the Associated Press reported Wednesday night.
What issues did China disagree with? US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that China prevented the G20 from issuing a joint communiqué after the meeting due to a dispute over its massive trade surplus. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing Bloomberg and Reuters. "The country with the largest and most unsustainable account surplus in the world, China, objected. A non-market economy that constantly generates cheap exports is not sustainab…
At the meeting of the G20 finance ministers in Asheville, the US demands China to export less. China rejects the joint summit declaration as the only country.
The adoption of a joint statement failed at the G20 Finance Ministers' meeting held in the United States due to China's opposition. China rejected a draft statement that included wording criticizing its domestic industrial policies and overproduction, and maintained a hardline stance on sensitive agendas such as freedom of navigation and debt restructuring, creating a 19-to-1 conflict dynamic.
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