G20 trade ministers meet as Trump tariffs strain talks

G20 trade ministers began two days of talks in Milwaukee on Wednesday as President Donald Trump's tariffs strained relations between the United States and other major economies.

Officials from the Group of 20 major economies, including China, India, Russia, Japan, Canada and France, are holding talks and bilateral meetings in the United States. Analysts expect few breakthroughs as trade tensions continue.

The meeting comes amid a US-Canada trade dispute, waves of US tariffs and US investigations into trading partners over excess industrial capacity. Those investigations target 16 trading partners, including China, the European Union, Japan and India, and bring the threat of further tariffs even for partners that have reached tariff deals with Washington.

Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski urged countries to lower trade barriers. “Our position was always very clear: That tariffs are bad for companies, are bad for customers and of course are increasing inflation,” he told reporters.

Domanski also said he hoped US partners would keep to earlier settlements, referring to a deal between the United States and the European Union to cap Trump's duties on the bloc at 15 percent. Poland is not a permanent G20 member but has been invited this year as Washington holds the group's rotating presidency.

US trade official Jamieson Greer said late Tuesday that the United States “is not anti-trade”. Asked about existing deals to cut tariffs imposed by Trump in his second presidency, Greer said: “We will certainly take them into account.”

On a possible pact with Canada, where some products face a US ban because of the trade dispute, Greer said: “It's not urgent for us.” He added: “Eventually, it will happen.”

Former US trade official Wendy Cutler, now with the Asia Society Policy Institute, told AFP that G20 officials would be under pressure to voice concerns about tariffs. She said some countries would “mince no words” because they felt unfairly targeted over excess capacity.

Canada's international trade minister Maninder Sidhu stressed Ottawa's support for “open, predictable and rules-based trade” before the talks. He plans to speak with partners in Milwaukee as Canadian officials try to diversify an economy they see as too reliant on an increasingly protectionist United States.

The G20 trade ministerial follows a meeting of finance ministers in Asheville and comes before a December leaders' summit in Miami. The G20 comprises 19 nations plus the European Union and the African Union.