BARI: G7 leaders turn their attention to China on Friday on the second day of an Italy summit, with a focus on how to protect their industries while avoiding an outright trade war with Beijing.
Fair trade with the world’s second-largest economy, notably on green technology, will be discussed by US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Britain in Puglia.
The Group of Seven rich democracies will also be seeking a common response to China’s alleged support of Russia’s military expansion, which Washington says is fuelling the war in Ukraine.
“G7 countries are on the same page vis-a-vis China,” a Japanese government source told AFP.
The meeting comes amid souring trade relations between China and the West, exemplified by the European Union’s announcement this week of plans to impose new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
The US, Japan and the European Union – which attends G7 summits as an unofficial eighth partner – have all voiced concern over China’s so-called “industrial overcapacity”.
They say generous subsidies by Beijing, particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles, result in unfairly cheap goods flooding the global market.
That excess capacity threatens Western companies struggling to compete, particularly in the growing green tech sector.
“We will confront China’s non-market policies that are leading to harmful global spillovers,” John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, told journalists ahead of the summit.
China has dismissed the concerns, but Washington is pressing for a united G7 front.
Biden heads to G7 summit focused on Ukraine aid, China’s support for Russia
The group’s finance ministers warned last month that they would weigh steps to “ensure a level playing field” for all countries.
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