On Friday, the finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries gathered in Stresa, Italy for a two-day meeting to discuss the necessity of providing loans to Ukraine and to reach a consensus on opposing China’s “unfair” industrial policies.
G7 countries include the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada.
According to Reuters, the finance ministers of Germany, France, and Italy urged G7 to maintain unity in the face of China’s “unfair” industrial policies during the meeting.
They emphasized the need for G7 to stand together against Beijing’s growing export dumping.
In response to China’s cheap product dumping, the United States announced last week a series of tariffs on Chinese products including electric vehicles, electric vehicle batteries, chips, and medical products.
While the United States did not call on its partners to take similar measures, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed on Thursday that she hoped America’s G7 allies would show unity with Washington.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire emphasized the importance of avoiding a trade war with Beijing, but stated that in the face of China’s “unfair trade behavior,” G7 needed to protect its industrial interests.
Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7. Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finance, who chaired the meeting in Stresa, stated that it may only be a matter of time before the European Union follows the footsteps of the United States on tariff issues.
“The United States has made very difficult decisions, and Europe might have to consider doing the same,” he told Italy’s national broadcaster RAI on Friday.
Giorgetti stressed the importance of G7 unity and European countries not starting to compete with each other in light of the possibility of increased Chinese exports to Europe due to US tariffs.
Prior to the G7 finance ministers meeting, officials’ comments indicated that there would be no concrete details on using the future income from about $300 billion of frozen Russian assets to support loans to Ukraine, which the US is pushing for.
French Finance Minister Le Maire told reporters before the meeting, “We will propose using unexpected profits from Russian assets in the coming years.”
Yellen indicated that the loan amount could be around $50 billion, but a consensus on the specific amount has not yet been reached.
Jay Shambaugh, the US Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, told CNBC on Friday that he expected ministers not to discuss technical issues such as loan structure, who will manage the loans, or how support will be provided, but believed they would make important progress in principle.
According to Reuters, a European negotiating representative at the meeting said that the final communiqué would contain “positive language” on this subject and propose options for consideration by G7 leaders at the summit in June.
On Saturday, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko will join the G7 ministers at the meeting.