Attempt to mitigate damage: Mnuchin wants to talk about free trade

Sunday, July 22, 2018

After US President Trump threatened the EU with new tariffs, his finance minister, Mnuchin, speaks at the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires Aires. An IMF badysis shows that the biggest losers in the tariff arms race could be the Americans.

In the global customs dispute, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin offered talks to the European Union on future trade relations. "We would accept a free trade agreement without tariffs," he told the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bankers in Buenos Aires. "Our goal is free, open and balanced trade."

Recently, US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose higher tariffs on cars coming from Europe. This could also hit the German auto industry. The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will visit Washington for talks next week. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) wants to prevent a spiral of escalation with ever higher tariffs and seeks a solution to the negotiating dispute in the trade dispute between the EU and the United States. The EU's countermeasures against the new punitive tariffs of the United States are "by far the worst solution," she said last. Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz also campaigned for a free and fair global trade at the meeting of the most important industrial and emerging countries of the Argentine capital. "Prosperity gains are greater for all, if we cooperate," said SPD politician

Tariffs are the dominant theme

In fact, an badysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that The US economy due to impending punitive tariffs could be the biggest loser in the trade dispute in many countries. In the end, however, the whole world would suffer from an arms race of an inch. In the worst case scenario, global economic output could be 0.5 percent or $ 430 billion lower in 2020 than previously estimated, the IMF estimates.

The Argentine presidency of the G20 actually had the future of work and an improved infrastructure put on the agenda for the weekend. However, in the face of the customs dispute between the United States, China and the European Union, everything revolved around world trade.

Trump accuses Europeans of keeping the euro artificially low. This would make the dollar more expensive and affect the competitiveness of the United States. Scholz dismissed the accusation: "The EU has a very rational policy, we are not trying to obtain economic benefits by monetary parities."

Skepticism of the Monetary Fund

Hundreds of people protested against the G20 meeting. the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has recently pledged $ 30 billion in aid to the South American country. In return, the government is committed to reducing the budget deficit and slowing down inflation.

Argentina has significant reserves on IMF credit, while the IMF faces severe austerity measures in the 2000s. "L & # 39; agreement with the IMF means that we are delivered to the dictatorship of the market, "said Adolfo Aguirre of the Public Services Union (ATE).

At the G20 meeting, the finance ministers also wished to discuss the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Digital currencies such as Bitcoin could be used for money laundering or terrorist financing purposes, according to a recent IMF badysis. "I'm optimistic that we will make progress," said Scholz. The G20 generates 85% of the world's economic output, accounts for two-thirds of the world's population, and handles 75% of world trade.

Source: n-tv.de