Top economic officials from the Group of 20 nations were unable to agree on a joint statement on Tuesday because of resistance from China, which opposed language criticizing its export strategy.
The dissent from China frustrated the United States, which was hosting the meetings in North Carolina, and underscored a major rift between the world’s two largest economies. The United States has for years been growing impatient by China’s excess industrial capacity, warning that its export strategy is creating economic imbalances around the world.
“We believe that nonmarket-based economies pushing out a never-ending stream of cheap exports is not sustainable,” Mr. Bessent said at a news conference at the conclusion of the meetings. “It is clear that the country with the world’s largest and unsustainable current account surplus, People’s Republic of China, was the dissenter.”
In the absence of a joint statement, or communiqué, the Treasury Department released a chair statement outlining the areas of agreement from the meeting. China rejected parts of that statement that included language on ensuring efficient supply chains for critical minerals, the risks of an overreliance on exports for growth and the importance of speeding up sovereign debt restructuring.
The Treasury secretary said that he was encouraged that the other 19 countries in attendance were in agreement about global imbalances. The summit was focused on accelerating economic growth, increasing business investment and restructuring debt in developing economies.
Geopolitics overshadowed some of the economic dialogue, however, as European countries expressed what Mr. Bessent described as a “sour taste” at the fact that Russia’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov, attended the meetings in person.
“If both fighters go in a corner, then there will never be a resolution to this horrible conflict,” Mr. Bessent said, explaining that engagement with Russia and Ukraine was critical to ending the war.
The biggest issue haunting the global economy is the war in Iran, which has driven up energy prices and fanned inflation. Mr. Bessent said that he had received significant support for the United States’ initiative to strangle Iran’s economy.
Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day summit, Mr. Bessent expressed optimism that the European Union, Britain and the United Arab Emirates were prepared to join the United States as it embarks on “Operation Economic Outcast.” The Trump administration unveiled the campaign last week and has warned that countries that fail to sever economic ties with Iran will face U.S. sanctions and other economic penalties.
“We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime,” Mr. Bessent said in an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business.
The Treasury secretary went on to say that Iran reminds him of the snakes he encountered as a child growing up in South Carolina. He recalled that poisonous snakes used to continue wiggling their tails after being decapitated.
“We are burying the head of the Iranian snake,” Mr. Bessent said. “The snake doesn’t know it’s dead yet, but it will stop wiggling when the sun goes down.”
Mr. Bessent said that the Treasury Department would announce additional sanctions on banks that Iran relies upon to facilitate transactions that fund its economy. He also said that the department was working to seize Iranian leaders’ assets abroad, including, specifically, money in bank accounts in the British Virgin Islands.
Last week, the United States shut down the Dubai branch of an Egyptian bank that the Treasury Department said had helped Iran evade sanctions.
The Treasury secretary expressed optimism that the disruptions caused by the conflict with Iran would be temporary. He predicted that oil transport routes would quickly adjust to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a consequence of the war.
“In two years, the Strait of Hormuz will be a worthless piece of water,” Mr. Bessent said.
While the United States is trying to marshal global support to confront Iran, it is facing blowback from American allies over President Trump’s trade policies.
The newly announced tariffs on Canadian goods have come under repeated criticism from other attendees at the conference. On Tuesday morning, Lars Klingbeil, the German vice chancellor, told reporters that “tariff conflicts waged by the U.S.A., such as currently with Canada, destroy trust” and “ultimately harm everyone involved.”
Mr. Bessent dismissed the retaliatory measures that Canada, which is the United States’ second-largest trading partner, has taken. He suggested in an interview on CNBC that the northern neighbor of the United States was too small to wage a trade war.
“I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are,” Mr. Bessent said, referring to the size of the countries’ economies.
After meeting on Tuesday with his Canadian counterpart, François-Philippe Champagne, Mr. Bessent said that the trade dispute would ultimately have to be resolved by the leaders of the two countries.
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