David Lawder

G20 trade ministers agreed on Thursday to denounce the weaponization of food through coercive trade actions, but failed to reach consensus on statements denouncing forced ​labor in supply chains and on addressing structural excess industrial capacity, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday called for G20 major economies to refrain from coercive actions ​on food trade, tackle industrial overcapacity and re-examine the prevailing post-World War Two tariff system.

Members of an OECD forum on excess steel capacity agreed ‌on Wednesday to work towards imposing more tariffs on steel from China and other overproducing countries, and to refrain from subsidies that maintain loss-making steel mills or encourage new uneconomic plants.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet with Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday ​at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York to ‌discuss AI security, trade and other economic issues, a person familiar with the planning said on Saturday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on ​Tuesday said he would meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend ahead of a meeting ‌between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.

The U.S. federal budget deficit for August shrank to $167 billion due largely to some calendar shifts ​in benefit payments rather than any underlying trend, leaving the fiscal-year-to-date ‌budget gap essentially flat at $1.97 trillion, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

The Trump administration won backing from all G20 financial leaders ​except China's to act against "non-market" policies and distortions that cause over-reliance on exports and hinder growth elsewhere.

Ballooning debt ​and rising bond yields in advanced economies are threatening to undo developing and low-income countries' progress in ‌reining in their own debts, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters.

The U.S. move dismayed some finance leaders present, deflecting from its bid ​to focus talks on global economic growth.

The U.S. Treasury Department is likely ​to unveil weekly new secondary sanctions aimed at increasing ‌economic pressure on Iran, with an initial focus on banks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday.

U.S. ​Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made clear to ‌Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Monday that no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were ​possible until its war in Ukraine ends, ​a source familiar with the ministers' bilateral meeting ⁠said.