US targets China’s global trade surplus at G20 meeting ahead of Xi-Trump summit

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put China’s trade surplus at the centre of a G20 finance meeting on Monday, warning that persistent global imbalances undermine prosperity. He did not name China directly, but his remarks came as Washington presses Beijing over its expanding exports.

“We are confronting persistent global imbalances that undermine prosperity,” Bessent said in his opening address in Asheville, North Carolina. The United States holds the G20 presidency in 2026 and is leading the forum of major advanced and emerging economies.

Bessent said finance ministers and central bank governors had broadly agreed that both surplus and deficit countries should address “excessive imbalances”. He also criticized policies that prioritize national exports, saying they had harmed many economies represented at the meeting.

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We are confronting persistent global imbalances that undermine prosperity.

“A durable global economy cannot rest on beggar-thy-neighbour acts that stifle fair market-based competition,” he said. Washington has made trade imbalances a main theme of the ministerial gathering, reviving long-running complaints about China’s large surpluses.

The dispute has sharpened as Chinese exports of automobiles, solar panels and batteries surge. Several countries have expressed concern about what they describe as Chinese overcapacity. The meeting took place weeks before Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Washington for a bilateral summit with US President Donald Trump.

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A durable global economy cannot rest on beggar-thy-neighbour acts that stifle fair market-based competition.