U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pressing the world's largest economies to reassess their trade relationships with China, arguing that Beijing's roughly $1.2 trillion trade surplus is unsustainable and that countries outside the U.S. may need to erect their own barriers against a growing wave of Chinese exports.
Bessent plans to raise the issue with G20 finance leaders gathering in Asheville, N.C., according to Reuters, as the Trump administration attempts to turn its bilateral trade confrontation with Beijing into a broader debate over China's role in global economic imbalances.
"The world cannot have a China with a $1.2 trillion trade surplus," Bessent told Reuters.
The Treasury secretary's argument is that weak Chinese domestic demand has left Beijing increasingly dependent on foreign markets to absorb its industrial production. That creates pressure not only on the U.S., Bessent contends, but also on economies that have received more Chinese goods as American tariffs restricted access to the U.S. market.
"The rest of the world is going to have to examine their terms of trade with China," Bessent said.
The shift is already visible in U.S.-China trade figures. The U.S. goods deficit with China fell to about $73.9 billion during the first six months of 2026, roughly one-third below its level during the comparable period a year earlier, according to Census Bureau data cited in the supplied report.
American imports from China totaled approximately $129.3 billion during the period, while U.S. exports to China were about $55.5 billion. The narrowing reflects in part the substantial tariffs and other trade restrictions Washington has placed on Chinese products.
But lower Chinese shipments to the U.S. haven't necessarily translated into lower Chinese exports overall. Instead, more goods have been redirected toward markets including Europe and Latin America, shifting some of the political and economic pressures associated with China's manufacturing surplus to other trading partners.
Washington is now seeking language in a G20 joint statement addressing trade and current-account imbalances. The International Monetary Fund's 2026 External Sector Report found that global current-account balances widened further during 2025, with China and the U.S. among the principal contributors to excessive imbalances.
Bessent is pushing back, however, against proposals that would make China's currency the primary focus of an international response. Some European officials and economists have discussed coordinated efforts to strengthen the yuan, drawing comparisons with the 1985 Plaza Accord, when major economies cooperated on measures that contributed to a decline in the dollar against other currencies.
Bessent considers that approach insufficient. He argues that China's industrial subsidies and persistently weak household consumption are more fundamental sources of the imbalance, meaning a currency adjustment wouldn't by itself resolve the flow of excess Chinese production into overseas markets.
The G20 discussions come ahead of another important phase in U.S.-China negotiations. President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House in late September, with officials from both governments continuing talks over tariffs and other economic disputes before the summit.
Despite Washington's push for greater international resistance to China's export model, the U.S. and China are simultaneously examining areas where their own trade barriers could be reduced. Bessent told Reuters that each side may have roughly $30 billion of non-strategic and non-critical goods on which tariffs could potentially be eliminated.
The negotiations also extend beyond conventional trade. Washington and Beijing are discussing artificial-intelligence safeguards intended to prevent powerful AI models from reaching non-state actors, according to the supplied report.
Trump's administration, meanwhile, is rebuilding parts of its tariff framework after the Supreme Court struck down broad duties imposed under emergency authorities. The administration imposed a 12.5% tariff on Chinese imports in July following a forced-labor trade investigation and is considering additional measures aimed at excess Chinese industrial capacity.
Bessent is also expected to meet People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng during the G20 gathering. The meeting gives Washington another channel to press its argument that China's trade surplus reflects structural problems involving production, subsidies and domestic demand rather than simply the value of the yuan.
