The United States wants to talk to the Europeans about free trade

(dpa) In the global customs dispute, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin , left the European Union Discussions on future commercial relations offered. "We would accept a free trade agreement, free of customs duties," he said at the weekend meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bankers in Buenos Aires. "Our goal is free, open and balanced trade."

Finance Minister Steve Mnuchin greets the Minister Bruno Le Maire at the G20 in Buenos Aires (Image: Marcos Brindicci / Pool via AP)

Recently, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on European cars. The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will visit Washington for talks next week. "We are waiting for an offer," said Mnuchin

. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to avoid an escalation of the spiral with ever higher tariffs and seeks a solution to the negotiating table of the trade dispute between the EU and the United States. The EU's countermeasures against the new US tariffs would be "by far the worst," she said. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has 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."

The US economy will suffer the most

Indeed, an analysis of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that only the US economy is threatened by impending punitive tariffs in many countries. could be the biggest loser in the trade dispute. However, the whole world would suffer from an arms race. At worst, global economic output could be 0.5 percent or $ 430 billion lower than expected in 2020, according to IMF estimates.

The Argentine presidency of the G-20 actually had the future of work and the improvement of the infrastructure Infrastructure put for the weekend on the agenda. In 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. German Finance Minister Scholz rejected the accusation: "The EU has a very rational policy, we are not seeking an economic advantage over the exchange rates."

Protests against the G20 meeting

Hundreds of people demonstrated in the Argentine capital against the G-20 meeting and 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. In Argentina, the IMF loan raises important reservations, because the IMF is mainly related to the severe austerity measures and social upheavals of the 2000s. "The agreement with the IMF means that we are delivered to the dictatorship of the market, "said Adolfo Aguirre of the Public Services Union (ATE).

The G-20 accounts for 85 percent of global economic output, accounting for two-thirds of the world's population and managing 75 percent of world trade.