Economic security

Mnuchin Takes Heat From Global Finance Chiefs Over Trade

Global finance chiefs were unusually blunt in warning that the U.S. had put the international trade order at risk as President Donald Trump pushes ahead with his “America First” agenda by imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations told U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday that multilateral, rule-based trade is an essential pillar of the global economy, according to three people familiar with the discussions. But U.S. officials are standing firm and telling counterparts gathered in Argentina that they won’t give up their economic and national security interests, according to a Treasury official.

“The trip to the G-20 will focus on advancing the Trump administration’s global economic agenda to level the playing field for U.S. companies and workers,” Mnuchin said in a emailed statement on Monday.

Trade has taken center stage in the debate after Trump slapped import tariffs on aluminum and steel, with an informal poll of delegates singling out protectionism as the biggest threat to global growth. A euro-area official identified protectionism as one of the four medium-term risks to the world economy, listing financial deregulation, a sharp repricing of financial assets and procyclical fiscal policies as the other threats.