US pushes for EU, China concessions amid trade stalemate
Trade stalemate between US, EU and China at G20 summit
The United States and its European Union allies were locked in a trade stalemate on Saturday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refused to budge on demands for concessions.
In his opening salvo at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Mr Mnuchin urged China and the EU to respect "free, fair and reciprocal trade" amid talk of an escalating global trade conflict, but his French counterpart fired back that the US must "return to reason".
Mr Mnuchin was inflexible in his approach to the EU following a series of tit-for-tat measures that began with US President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
"My message is pretty clear, it's the same message the president delivered at the G7: If Europe believes in free trade, we're ready to sign a free trade agreement with no tariffs, no non-tariff barriers and no subsidies. It has to be all three," said Mr Mnuchin.
That brought a firm response from French finance and economy minister Bruno Le Maire at the G20 meeting, which brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's 20 leading economies.
"We refuse to negotiate with a gun to the head," he said.
"It must be the US that takes the first step to de-escalate."
He said he expected "a change of attitude" from Mr Trump, otherwise "there will be no choice other than to retaliate".
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde opened the summit by reiterating her fears that more trade restrictions would hurt global GDP.
Ms Lagarde said that taking into account "current announced and in process measures," an IMF simulation indicates that in a worst-case scenario, a half point would be cut from global GDP, amounting to some $430 billion.
But there seems no signs of a US willingness to back down.
Asked about Mr Trump's threat to hammer China with punitive tariffs on the entirety of the $500 billion in goods it exports to the US, Mr Mnuchin said: "It is definitely a realistic possibility, so I wouldn't minimise the possibility."
He added: "We share a desire to have a more balanced relationship and the balanced relationship is by us selling more goods (to China)."
Mr Mnuchin said China must "open up their markets so we can compete fairly," insisting that it would be "a tremendous opportunity for us and a tremendous opportunity for China."
The brewing global trade conflict was expected to dominate talks in the Argentine capital and Brazilian finance minister Eduardo Guardia said many delegates had spoken of "threats on the economic horizon" that "impact on economies, particularly emerging ones".
"Global trade cannot be based on survival of the fittest," Mr Le Maire said. - AFP
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