US urges G20 to cut trade imbalances, focus on China

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is urging some of his G20 counterparts to take a page from the Trump administration’s playbook of using tariffs and other measures to crack down on trade imbalances.

The administration of US President Donald Trump urged other G20 countries on Tuesday to do more to protect their domestic industries and job markets from Chinese imports, arguing that such distortions were “sucking” much-needed growth out of the global economy.

The two-day meeting of finance chiefs in Asheville, North Carolina, came amid a global bond market selloff on worries over growing debt levels and inflation pressures.

Bessent said he had already warned other trading partners last year that tougher US tariffs would lead to an influx of Chinese goods diverted to their markets.

“And unfortunately, I was right. They have – and the rest of the world probably needs to take a hard look at what they should be doing to protect their citizens’ jobs,” he told the meeting.

“We’re seeing a lot of non-market economies with these big imbalances that are sucking growth from the rest of the world,” Bessent told reporters.

Joint communique unclear

China’s massive export push has pressured economies across the globe, especially as the US has imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods and outright bans on some products, such as Chinese vehicles.

With chronically weak domestic demand, China has doubled down on exports of electric vehicles, semiconductors and other goods. Its total exports rose 23.9 percent in July year-on-year, prompting growing calls in Europe for tougher curbs on Chinese imports.

At the same time, the Trump administration’s tariff policies have been criticised by economists and politicians for raising costs for US consumers and, in many cases, for punishing allies.

The Tax Foundation, an independent think tank, found that the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration throughout 2025 raised the overall retail price of imported consumer goods by roughly 7 percent relative to pre-tariff trends.

European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis agreed that China is a major source of economic imbalances, but said that the US and Europe also had roles to play in evening things out.

In more direct comments, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil noted that the US-Israel war on Iran, together with ongoing US tariff disputes, were also major causes of uncertainty holding back the global economy.

“Uncertainty is poison for economic growth,” he said. “The tariff conflicts being pursued by the US, such as the current dispute with Canada, destroy trust.”

It remains unclear whether the US will be able to bring the diverse forum together to agree on a joint communique on how to reduce global imbalances.

G20 member China has shown little interest in longstanding calls for it to reduce industrial subsidies and rebalance its economy, while its yuan currency remains significantly undervalued by most measures.

Beijing has also exploited its dominance in processing critical minerals by placing export restrictions on rare earths in April 2025, a response to Trump’s tariffs that have also hit non-US companies.