G20 finance ministers target China's 'excess surplus,' urging end to export dependence and non-market policies

All G20 members except China back statement; Bessent urges other nations to protect their manufacturing bases

Xi's SCO summit followed within hours by US economic countermove ahead of planned leaders' summit

G20 finance ministers meet in Asheville, North Carolina. [AFP]

Just hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping used a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit to display solidarity with Russia, Iran and other non-Western states, the United States moved to put China's economic model on the defensive at the G20.

At a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors held Tuesday (local time) in Asheville, North Carolina, a chair's statement was issued warning against excessive trade surpluses and non-market policies, according to the US Treasury and foreign media.

"Countries recording excessive and persistent external surpluses should remove distortions that constrain domestic consumption and make growth overly dependent on exports," the statement said.

It also called on countries to "take steps to eliminate non-market policies and practices that worsen imbalances."

The statement further said countries should avoid unnecessary export restrictions to keep global supply chains functioning normally.

While China was not named directly, the language was widely interpreted as targeting Beijing, which has run one of the world's largest trade surpluses while expanding manufacturing exports through state subsidies and overcapacity.

Analysts noted the statement also appeared to address China's export controls on critical minerals — a longstanding grievance for the United States and other major economies.

All 19 G20 members except China backed the statement. Because a joint communiqué requires unanimous consent, the chair's statement format was used instead. The document took aim at China's excessive trade surplus driven by overcapacity, state subsidies and other non-market practices, as well as its export controls on critical minerals.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holds a press conference at the G20 finance ministers' meeting on Tuesday (local time). [AP]

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said securing the backing of 19 nations alone was a significant achievement and a sign of how serious the problem had become.

Bessent recalled that early in the second Trump administration he had warned that US tariff barriers would cause Chinese goods to flood into other countries — and said, "unfortunately," that prediction had proved correct. He urged other nations to "take a serious look at what they need to do to protect their jobs and manufacturing base."

The remarks were interpreted as a push for US allies and other countries to tighten their own trade measures against China and join Washington's pressure campaign on Beijing.

Bessent had signaled the move in a Reuters interview on Sunday, saying China's export volumes were unsustainable and that he planned to urge G20 members to renegotiate their trade terms with China as a way to reduce global imbalances.

Bessent also said he reached an understanding with the Chinese delegation at the meeting that Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons and that free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz must be guaranteed.

He also previewed that AI policy would be on the agenda at the planned summit between President Trump and Xi later this month. "We all need to put guardrails in place to prevent non-state actors from developing their own models," Bessent said.

Trump praised Bessent on Truth Social, saying the G20 finance ministers' meeting had produced "very productive and positive discussions."

Trump did not specify what he found productive, but the comment was seen as a likely response to the chair's statement targeting China.

Trump is scheduled to meet Xi at the White House on Sept. 24. With preliminary talks between the two sides already under way to set the agenda, the G20 finance ministers' meeting has sharpened the jockeying for leverage ahead of the leaders' summit.

The G20 finance ministers' chair's statement came less than a day after China, Russia, Iran and other anti-Western states gathered at the SCO summit to condemn the US strike on Iran and urge a diplomatic resolution.

Xi had stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a show of collective strength — and the United States responded by pushing through a G20 chair's statement that put China's economic structure squarely in the crosshairs.

mokiya@heraldcorp.com