G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting in Asheville

The G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, was notable for two key developments.

First, Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary, met Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. This was the first time Siluanov travelled to a G20 meeting in person since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. European finance ministers were, reportedly, not happy about his presence. Russia’s economy has been hit by the costs of the war with Ukraine, continued high inflation and, most recently, petrol shortages. Siluanov has reportedly engaged on an austerity drive. A thawing of relations with the US could include relief on sanctions, potentially reviving bilateral trade and European imports of Russian gas.

Second, the disagreement with China about inclusion of the term ‘non-market’ in the final communique. The Chinese see the term as a criticism of subsidies to industry, which make their production costs lower and exports cheaper. The US and EU also provide subsidies for industries such as EVs and AI, of course. According to a report by Rhodium Group, China’s lower costs of EV production owe much more to vertical integration and lower overheads than they do to subsidies.