ASHEVILLE, N.C.—U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that all G20 members approved the joint summit statement, except China.
The disagreement centered mainly on language about sovereign debt restructuring and reducing global imbalances.
Speaking at a press conference after the G20 summit for finance ministers and central bank governors, Bessent said he had hoped to announce a unanimous summit communiqué reflecting “the outcome of the great work we’ve done together.”
“All but one member of the G20 was able to reach consensus,“ he said.
When asked to identify the country, Bessent said: “Well, it is clear that the country with the world’s largest and unsustainable current account surplus, People’s Republic of China, was the dissenter.”
The United States is hosting this year’s G20 meetings, bringing together officials and leaders of the world’s top 20 economies to discuss global economic cooperation.
The G20 summit for finance ministers and central bank governors, hosted by Bessent and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, concluded on Sept. 1.
Bessent made economic growth and fair trade the central focus during the two-day summit at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.
Trade imbalances, particularly trade relations with China and the other G20 economies, have been a major focus of the Trump administration.
In his opening remarks on the first day of the summit, Bessent called on G20 countries to tackle large trade imbalances, arguing that many economies suffer because of what he described as the “distorted policies” of certain “privileged countries.”
“A durable global economy cannot rest on beggar-thy-neighbor acts that stifle fair market-based competition,” he said.
The day before the summit, Bessent told Reuters that he would encourage G20 members to reexamine their trade relationship with China, stating that the current flood of Chinese exports was unsustainable.
“The world cannot have a China with a $1.2 trillion trade surplus,” he told Reuters.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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