[ad_1]
Buenos Aires – The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors begin Saturday in Buenos Aires in a context of acute trade tensions between the United States and the rest of the world.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose punitive taxes on all Chinese imports, which amounted to $ 500 billion in 2017.
Until then, American protectionism against Chinese products focused on steel and aluminum, protesting against subsidies and export credits granted by Beijing.
" I do not do it for political purposes, I do it to do what is good for our country ," he said, accusing China of " to scam "for a long time the United States, with practices disloyal " and " theft of intellectual property ".
In addition to trade conflicts, there are monetary tensions.
" 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 stronger, day after day, which degrades our competitiveness ", denounced the US president, also criticizing the rise in interest rates of the Fed.
– American envoy –
Beijing accuses Washington of wanting to provoke " the worst trade war in economic history " and reacted by imposing new taxes on American products.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, dispatched to Argentina on Saturday and Sunday, " will respond to concerns over trade policy ," said a senior Treasury official.
Bilateral talks are planned between Mnuchin and his French, German, Japanese, Canadian, South Korean, Italian and Mexican peers.
This week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintained its global growth forecast at 3.9% for 2018 and 2019 but its CEO, Christine Lagarde, pointed out that it was probably a ceiling .
And Maurice Obstfeld, Chief Economist of the Fund, further estimated that trade tensions constituted " the greatest short-term threat to world growth ".
Especially since 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 the relations with the United States, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, goes Wednesday in Washington where he will meet the American president.
According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe is " ready " to retaliate if the US raises its taxes on imports of European vehicles, a major concern for German automakers .
She stated, however, that " retaliation for 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 European companies present in that country, which will come into force on 6 August, date of the first part of the American sanctions.
Under the principle of extraterritoriality of US law, Washington intends to penalize companies and individuals 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 now, Washington has refused to exempt European companies after denouncing the nuclear deal with Iran.
The G20 Finances will address this weekend the threats to global growth and crisis risks in emerging countries.
The work of finance ministers and central bank governors was to begin Saturday at 14H30 (17H30 GMT) and continue Sunday. This is the third ministerial meeting of the year after that of March, in Buenos Aires, and April in Washington.
A final statement is expected to be released Sunday at the end of the day.
On November 30 and December 1, the heads of state and government of the G20 countries will travel to Buenos Aires to discuss the future of the global economy.
Source link
