Edgar Su | Reuters
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that 19 of the G20 members agreed to address the “unsustainable balance” resulting from a “stream of cheap exports.” China was the only G20 member to dissent from a joint statement over references to such “imbalances.”
The Commerce Ministry on Thursday rejected trade complaints from the United States and Europe, calling them “an excuse to pressure and restrict China.”
“China believes that taking advantage of the G20 and other multilateral mechanisms to exaggerate so-called ‘economic imbalances’ and ‘overcapacity’ is essentially promoting protectionism,” Commerce Ministry spokesperson Ling Huang said in Chinese, translated by CNBC.
“China is firmly opposed,” he said during a weekly news conference. “This will only disrupt the global economic and trade order and harm the healthy development of the global economy.”
The words come amid a flurry of different multilateral meetings and growing anticipation for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington, DC later this month.
When asked by CNBC about the latest US sanctions against Iran, which may extend beyond Iranian entities to foreign companies or individuals accused of helping Iran, Huang said the United States should “immediately correct its wrongful practices and lift sanctions against relevant Chinese companies and citizens.”
“Despite China’s repeated requests, the United States has used Iran as an excuse to repeatedly impose sanctions on Chinese companies and citizens, which China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed,” he said.
Early last week, Bessent announced that any entity, including Chinese banks, that facilitates money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran could be cut off from the US financial system.
“If France persists in its course of action, China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, and France will bear all the consequences,” he said.
China and the broader European Union have also engaged in trade talks this summer, as Europe wants to reduce its record trade deficit with China by October. EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič warned in an interview with Euronews this week that Beijing must deliver “concrete results” by October or face “tougher measures.”
Huang said China is willing to work with the EU, but said demands should not be made unilaterally and threats to close markets should not be made.
