US, China flex muscles at G20 meeting
BUENOS AIRES: Tensions over trade surfaced on the first day of a G20 meeting of finance ministers as the United States and China – whose differences are fuelling fears of a trade war – flexed their muscles in the Argentine capital.
The meeting of the world’s leading economies in Buenos Aires comes days before US tariffs on steel and aluminium are due to come into force on Friday for all countries except Canada and Mexico.
The main focus of the talks is the threat of a trade war between the US and its trading partners, particularly China and the European Union.
And, as with every G20 meeting since US President Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House, the drafting of the meeting’s final statement has revealed differences between the world’s two biggest economies.
“China and the United States are each flexing their muscles during the negotiations on the final text of the communiqué,” which will be released at the end of the meeting
China and the United States are each flexing their muscles during the negotiations on the final text of the communiqué. Source
on Tuesday, a source close to the talks said.
“The communiqué is likely to show that there are tensions over trade.”
“The text won’t look to hide these tension, but it should however underline that a collective solution remains the best option,” the source added.
The US tariffs are essentially aimed at China, whose steelp roducing ove rc ap a c i t y has hampered US producers for years, but Washington’s European allies have also come under fire from Trump, who has particularly targeted German trade surpluses.
In recent days, Europeans have reaffirmed their unity amid a flurry of diplomatic moves to prevent steel and aluminium taxes leading to a trade war.
“Dividing Europe cannot be in the interest of the American government, and it will not succeed,” German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told German business daily Handelsblatt before heading to Washington.
But France’s minister Bruno Le Maire waded into the tariff row at the meeting, telling US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin ‘very frankly’ that the EU should be exempted from the US tariffs.
“To tell you the bottom line, no one would understand if the EU, at the end of the day, is not globally exempt from this,” he said, after meeting Mnuchin on the sidelines.
He said he told Mnuchin that the tariffs “will hurt your own allies, in this case your own European allies, impact on the jobs of your allies, on the businesses of your allies.” — AFP