US urges G20 to reduce trade imbalances, focusing on China
The administration of US President Donald Trump, at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, urged other countries to protect their own industries and jobs from growing Chinese imports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that tough US tariffs had redirected some Chinese goods to other markets.
As Daily Maverick reports, Bessent told meeting participants that other countries should consider steps to protect their citizens' jobs. According to him, substantial imbalances in non-market economies take economic growth away from the rest of the world.
China's exports
Increasing Chinese exports are putting pressure on economies in different regions, especially after the United States imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods and bans on certain products, including cars from the PRC. In July, total Chinese exports increased by 23.9% year-on-year.
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański told Reuters that the Chinese currency is significantly undervalued and that Beijing actively subsidizes exports, which is also a problem for Europe. China's goods trade surplus with the European Union reached €360.6 billion last year — 15% more than in 2024.
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European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis agreed that China is a significant source of economic imbalances, but noted that the United States and Europe must also play a role in reducing them.
Joint communiqué
It remains uncertain whether the participants will be able to agree on a joint communiqué on reducing global imbalances. According to officials, the section on these imbalances in the draft document proved particularly difficult: China objects to wording that singles out “non-market economies,” as well as to tough provisions on restricting supplies of critical minerals.
In April 2025, Beijing imposed export restrictions on rare earth elements in response to Trump's tariffs. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told her G20 colleagues that arbitrary export restrictions on critical minerals harm the global economy and should be lifted.
European countries also sought to include strong wording in the communiqué regarding the war of the Russian Federation — an aggressor state — against Ukraine. They were dissatisfied with the presence of a Russian representative at the forum for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
