China dissented from G20 statement on cheap exports, Bessent says

China G20 cheap exports tensions came to the fore after finance officials met in Asheville, North Carolina, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying China was the sole dissenter from a chairman’s statement on export-driven trade imbalances. Bessent said 19 other G20 members backed the view that a continuing flow of low-priced exports from non-market economies was unsustainable, according to CNBC and an Associated Press report.

The remarks marked the outcome of a U.S. push begun before the meeting. On Aug. 30, Bessent said he would ask G20 members to review their trading terms with China and press Beijing to shift its economic model toward domestic consumption, rather than exports, Reuters reported.

Bessent described China as having the world’s largest and an unsustainable current-account surplus. That assessment, as well as his characterisation of the country’s exports, reflects the Treasury secretary’s position and was not independently established in the reporting.

What did China dissent from at the G20 meeting?

Bessent said China declined to join a statement holding that non-market-based economies’ persistent supply of cheap exports was not sustainable. He said the other 19 members’ backing demonstrated the scale of the issue and that countries would act over the coming days, weeks or months to address what he termed an unsustainable imbalance, CNBC reported.

The extent of that alignment remains unclear. The Treasury Department did not immediately release a copy of the chairman’s statement, CNBC reported. The available reporting therefore does not establish its full wording, whether it carried formal commitments, or what specific policies, if any, G20 members intend to pursue. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to CNBC and Reuters.

How does the dispute fit into U.S.-China trade talks?

The disagreement comes as Washington and Beijing continue trade discussions ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping planned for late September. Bessent said officials from both sides would continue talks on possible tariff reductions for non-strategic goods and on artificial-intelligence safeguards, Reuters reported.

He estimated that each side could have about $30 billion of non-strategic, non-critical goods on which tariffs might be removed. Reuters described that as Bessent’s estimate, rather than a bilateral agreement.

Trade data cited in the pre-meeting reporting point to a separate bilateral measure. U.S. Census Bureau data showed a $73.9 billion U.S. goods trade deficit with China in the first half of 2026, one-third below the equivalent 2025 period, Reuters reported. That figure measures the U.S.-China bilateral deficit and is distinct from Bessent’s cited $1.2 trillion figure for China’s overall trade surplus.

Bessent had argued that trading partners needed to provide China with incentives to strengthen domestic demand. The G20 meeting produced a reported political division on that argument, but the available accounts offer no details of an agreed multilateral trade package.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.