China Breaks With 19 G20 Members on Cheap Exports and Non-Market Policies
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 1
China Breaks With 19 G20 Members on Cheap Exports and Non-Market Policies
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 1
Summary
China was the lone holdout as 19 G20 members backed language calling cheap-export growth and non-market policies "not sustainable," according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The disputed paragraph urged countries with excessive, persistent surpluses to remove distortions that suppress domestic consumption and leave growth overly reliant on exports; Treasury later footnoted China's objection.
China also opposed passages on shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, IMF surveillance of global imbalances, and debt vulnerabilities tied to G20 creditors.
Bessent said the other 19 members would act in the coming days, weeks or months to address the "unsustainable equilibrium," even as Washington keeps long-term trade talks with Beijing alive ahead of Xi Jinping's planned late-September U.S. visit.
The split adds pressure to a broader U.S. push on China and Iran under "Operation Economic Outcast," though Bessent said Beijing and Washington still share interests in keeping Hormuz open and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.