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G20 pushes for free trade as U.S. vows to defend national interest
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![Trump’s Tariffs To Be Debated During G20 Summit In Argentina]()
Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting in Argentina. Trump’s Tariffs To Be Debated During G20 Summit In Argentina
The world’s financial leaders sought on Monday to endorse free trade amid concerns over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, while the United States said it could not sacrifice its national interests to make the system work.
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 biggest economies are meeting in Buenos Aires to discuss the global economic outlook, capital flows, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and how to stop corporate tax avoidance.
But since U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on March 8 to impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium, trade has become the focal point of the meeting.
“I am seriously concerned that the foundation of our prosperity - free trade - is being put at risk,” German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told German mass-selling newspaper Bild.
“Protectionism is not the answer to the difficulties of our time. The situation is serious,” he said, adding that he would be cautious yet about referring to a trade war.
But U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pushed the Trump administration’s emphasis on “free trade with reciprocal terms.”
“There’s no doubt that the secretary represents the president’s very strong view that we believe in free trade,” one U.S. official told reporters.
“But the environment we’re in now, where the expectation is America totally subordinates its national interests in order for the free trade system to work, is just one we don’t accept. So, we’ve been very clear, we believe in free trade with reciprocal terms that leads to more balanced trade relationships,” he said.
On Sunday, Scholz said he would seek to dissuade Washington from imposing the steel and aluminium tariffs, which come into effect on March 23.
Others at the G20 meeting, which will conclude on Tuesday with a joint communique, shared Germany’s concern.
“There is a solid understanding among the global community that free trade is important,” Haruhiko Kuroda, Japan’s central bank governor, told reporters upon arriving for the talks.
The U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs have raised alarms among trading partners that Trump is following through on his threats to dismantle the trading system based around World Trade Organization rules in favor instead of unilateral U.S. actions.
Reuters
