G20 Split Over US Plan to Address Excess Capacity
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Trade ministers from several G20 countries rejected a US-led effort to address industrial overcapacity and non-market economic policies, reflecting differences among major economies. The Office of the United States Trade Representative disclosed that a draft ministerial statement on overcapacity was supported by most G20 members, but several countries clearly opposed establishing a cooperation framework to act on the issue. The United States, which holds this year's G20 presidency, did not disclose which countries objected. The dispute comes as the Office of the United States Trade Representative investigates 16 trading partners under Section 301 for signs of industrial overcapacity, which could lead to additional tariffs in the coming months. Meanwhile, only Mexico and Argentina supported the US-led statement calling for greater cooperation to remove goods produced with forced labor from global supply chains. However, G20 trade ministers reached consensus in condemning the use of food trade as a tool of economic or political coercion, and discussed the possibility of changing the tariff system under the World Trade Organization's most-favored-nation principle. Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, said the WTO's MFN principle limits countries' ability to apply different trade measures to countries with non-market economic policies.