'Handful' of G20 Countries Reject US Stance on Excess Industrial Capacity
A "handful" of Group of 20 trade ministers rejected US calls to curb excess industrial capacity and "non-market" policies, the US Trade Representative's office said, a day after a trade meeting in Milwaukee. Only two countries, Mexico and Argentina, signed on to a US-led statement calling for more work and cooperation to eliminate goods produced with forced labor from supply chains. The US, this year's G20 chair, has imposed tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 59 countries and the European Union over allegations of inadequate enforcement of forced labor bans, and is conducting a second "Section 301" tariff investigation into 16 trading partners showing signs of excess industrial capacity.
Why it matters: The rejection by most G20 members, alongside the US tariff measures and the Section 301 probe, makes trade and industrial policy the central axis of this round of G20 ministerial meetings.