Nearly every session at the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, N.C., this week began with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extolling the state of the U.S. economy under President Trump and urging other countries to be more like America.
America’s allies were not always receptive. At several points, representatives from Europe, Canada and other nations friendly to the United States criticized the administration for moves that they say have hurt their economies.
They voiced displeasure over the war with Iran, which has resulted in disruptions to energy markets and shipping. They also raised Mr. Bessent’s surprise decision to sell U.S. holdings of euros to prop up Japan’s currency last month, and the administration’s escalating war of words and tariffs with Canada.
The disagreements, while mostly polite, reflected a growing frustration in Europe and elsewhere over Mr. Trump’s stewardship of the global economy — and allies’ sense that his policies have in important ways hindered economic growth, the issue Mr. Bessent said the administration was “laser-focused” on.
“Despite U.S. strong-arm tactics, even traditional U.S. allies among the G20 are clearly and publicly at odds with the Trump administration’s priorities,” said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division.
Some of the difference is philosophical. Mr. Trump has eviscerated regulatory barriers for businesses, including the booming artificial intelligence industry, and leaned into fossil fuel production. European leaders remain more cautious on A.I. and other deregulation and more committed to a transition to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, even as they try to nurture their own tech ecosystem to rival America and China.
“There are clear differences, and we will handle it that way,” Lars Klingbeil, the German vice chancellor, told reporters on Tuesday in Asheville. He pointed to America’s tariff conflicts, including its escalating standoff with Canada, which he said were eroding trust in global trade and would “ultimately harm everyone involved.”
Mr. Bessent and colleagues planned the gathering on Monday and Tuesday as a showcase for the administration’s policies and an advertisement for the strength of American business. In an apparent first, Mr. Bessent invited American chief executives from industries including banking and cryptocurrency to sessions with the visiting officials. All of this was done under the banner of improving public-private collaboration and juicing investment.
“The foundation of America’s strength is predicated on remaining the pre-eminent economy in the world,” Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, who was one of the executives in attendance, said in a release lauding Mr. Bessent’s move.
Mr. Bessent opened Tuesday’s events with a “fireside chat” with the Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, a former top economic official in Mr. Trump’s first administration. Both men raved about America’s business climate under Mr. Trump.
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“The U.S. is at a very special place in the world because we are the A.I. superpower and we are pulling away in computing power,” Mr. Bessent said, crediting the administration’s regulatory, tax and energy policies. He said he had invited the other countries in attendance to “come with us and grow.”
The American economy is growing faster than many of its peers. The International Monetary Fund projects that the United States will grow more than twice as fast as the eurozone or Canada this year. Yet the I.M.F. noted this summer that the administration’s war in Iran had slowed economic growth. German economists say Mr. Trump’s war and his tariffs on Europe have dampened what otherwise has been the strongest year of German growth since 2022.
On Monday, European leaders used one of the open discussions to complain that Mr. Bessent had not informed them in advance of his plans to use America’s holdings of euros in an effort to boost the value of Japan’s currency, the yen. By using euros, Mr. Bessent pushed down the value of Europe’s currency while protecting the value of the dollar.
Joachim Nagel, the head of Germany’s central bank, said he believed that the criticism had resonated, and that American officials now understood why Europeans “were not really enthusiastic about the fact that there was no prior coordination.”
Mr. Klingbeil told reporters that Europeans had raised other concerns as well, both with America and with China, which has flooded many wealthy nations with state-subsidized exports of cars and other goods.
“The past few months have shown that uncertainty is poison for economic growth,” Mr. Klingbeil said. “The Iran war, the ongoing tariff disputes with the U.S. and distortions of competition like we are experiencing from China, all of this leads to instability.”
The most open conflict was between America and its northern neighbor. Mr. Bessent was dismissive of Canada in a CNBC interview from the summit on Monday, saying, “I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are.”
Before a meeting with Mr. Bessent on Tuesday, the Canadian finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, responded defiantly.
He planned to tell Mr. Bessent, he said, that “we’re going to defend our workers, our industries and Canada.”
Alan Rappeport contributed reporting from Washington.
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