China blocked G20 consensus on trade imbalances; rest of world waking up: Scott Bessent

Washington, Sep 9 (AHN) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China was the sole G20 member that blocked a consensus statement addressing excess industrial capacity and restrictions on the trade of rare earths.

Bessent said the disagreement emerged during the recently concluded G20 finance track meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. The United States held the G20 presidency and hosted the gathering.

“We just had a very successful G20 US presidency, the finance track in Asheville, North Carolina,” Bessent said during a discussion on the state of the US economy.

He said all but one member supported the proposed language.

“To issue a communique, it has to be unanimous,” Bessent said. “I can issue a President statement, and the President’s statement said exactly what the communique was gonna say, but there was one holdout in the communique, and it was China.”

The proposed document addressed excess capacity in non-market economies and the need to keep rare earths freely traded, according to Bessent.

“And the rest of the world is waking up,” he said.

The Treasury secretary said the United States wanted to work with European countries, Canada and an expanded group of advanced economies to respond to China’s trade practices.

“We wanna work with the Europeans. We wanna work with the Canadians. We wanna work with the G7+,” he said.

Bessent argued that China was redirecting subsidised exports towards other markets because US trade measures had restricted their entry into the United States.

“They are coming back because we’re seeing manufacturing jobs in China go down,” he said. “They’re exporting their subsidised goods to the rest of the world, not the US anymore.”

He said high-end precision manufacturing jobs were returning to the United States. He credited the Trump administration’s tax, trade, energy and deregulation policies with creating conditions for private-sector expansion.

“At the end of the day, it’s the private sector that drives jobs,” Bessent said.

The Treasury Secretary cited American restrictions on Chinese electric vehicles as an example of Washington’s approach. He said President Donald Trump had imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles during his first term.

Bessent also pointed to the connected-car rule, which restricts the transfer of vehicle data to China.

“That has kept these Chinese vehicles off our streets,” he said.

He contrasted the US position with developments in Europe, citing the growing presence of Chinese vehicles and pressure on the German automobile industry.

“40 per cent of the cars at the Munich Auto Show were Chinese,” Bessent said.

He also cited Volkswagen’s plans for large-scale job reductions, saying the wider German automobile industry represented a major part of the country’s economy. His remarks were intended to underline the economic consequences that European manufacturers could face from subsidised Chinese competition.

China dominates several stages of the global critical-minerals and rare-earth supply chain. The materials are essential for electric vehicles, electronics, renewable-energy systems and advanced defence equipment. India, the United States and other major economies have sought to diversify supplies and reduce dependence on China.

The G20 brings together the world’s leading developed and emerging economies, including India, China and the United States. Its communiques traditionally require consensus, allowing any member to prevent the adoption of jointly negotiated language. A chair’s statement can record the presidency’s conclusions when full agreement is not reached.