US representatives took a strong line at the International Monetary Fund spring meetings over the weekend, the Financial Times reports, insisting that large surpluses in countries like China and Germany be scaled back.
The central discussion point for the meetings was the ever-present threat of a trade war between China and the US, which ministers and economists from around the world warned could trigger a loss of confidence in the growing global economy.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pinned the blame for such tensions on countries that benefit from large trade surpluses, saying the IMF needs to fulfil its role as an enforcer of free and fair global trade.
Mnuchin urged in his statement to the IMF’s governing committee that the fund “must step up to the plate on this issue, providing a more robust voice and consistently noting when members maintain macroeconomic, foreign exchange, and trade policies that facilitate unfair competitive advantage or lead to imbalanced growth.”
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