This week’s meeting of G20 finance ministers underscored rising global trade tensions, with several countries, including the US, lashing out at China.
Exports from the world’s second-largest economy have surged in recent months — the country registered a record $1.2 trillion surplus last year — driven partly by plummeting domestic consumption in China. That has led exporters to slash prices, flooding global markets with Chinese goods so cheap that local producers can’t compete: EU envoys were in Beijing this week to discuss “untenable” trade imbalances.
Beijing has rejected the accusations, straining ties ahead of a summit this month between the American and Chinese leaders. When it comes to China, “everyone’s feelings have crossed a threshold,” Japan’s finance minister said.
