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G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Begin Saturday in Buenos Aires in a Context of Tight Trade Tensions Between the United States and the Rest of the World
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said it was ready to impose punitive taxes on all Chinese imports, which amounted to 500 billion dollars in 2017.
Until then, American protectionism against Chinese products was focused on steel and aluminum, to protest against the subsidies and export credits granted by Beijing
" I do not do this for political purposes, I do it to do what is good for our country ", a- he badured, accusing China of " scamming " for a long time the United States, with practices " disloyal " and " theft of intellectual property ] "
In commercial disputes,
" China, the European Union and others manipulate their currencies by lowering their interest rates while the United States raises their rates with a dollar becoming more and more important. stronger, day after day, which degrades our competitiveness ", denounced the US president, also criticizing the rise in interest rates of the Fed.
American emissary
Beijing accuses Washington of wanting provoking " the worst trade war in economic history " and reacted by imposing new taxes on US products.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, dispatched to Argentina Saturday and Sunday, " will address concerns over trade policy a senior treasury official said.
Bilateral talks are planned between Mnuchin and his French, German, Japanese peers , Canadian, South Korean, Italian and Mexican.
This week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintained its global growth forecast at 3.9% for 2018 and 2019 but its CEO, Christine Lagarde, stressed that it was probably a ceiling.
And Maurice Obstfeld, Chief Economist of the Fund, further estimated that trade tensions were " the greatest short-term threat to global growth. "
Especially as the protectionism of the White House affects not only Beijing but also its main partners such as the European Union, Canada or Mexico.
Europe preoccupied
To try to appease relations with the United States, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, goes to Washington Wednesday where he will meet the US President.
According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe East " lends "to retaliate if the United States raises its taxes on imports of European vehicles, a great concern for German car manufacturers."
However, it stated that " retaliation for the rights of US customs "would be" the worst solution "
Other EU-US tension, Washington's request to economically isolate Iran was rejected by Europeans who have adopted a legal instrument to protect the European companies present in this country, which will come into effect on August 6, date of the first part of the American sanctions.
Under the principle of extraterritoriality of the American right, Washington intends to penalize companies and persons who trade with Iran. Many large European companies, such as the oil group Total, have decided to withdraw from Iran if they are not exempt from US sanctions.
For the moment, Washington has refused to exempt European companies after denouncing the nuclear deal with Iran
The G20 Finance will address this weekend the threats to global growth and the risks of crisis in emerging countries.
The work of the ministers of Finance and central bank governors were expected to start Saturday at 14H30 (17H30 GMT) and continue Sunday. It is the third ministerial meeting of the year after that of March, in Buenos Aires, and April in Washington.
A final communique must be diffused Sunday at the end of the day.
November 30 and December 1st, it is the heads of state and government of the G20 countries who will travel to Buenos Aires to discuss the future of the global economy.
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