G20 trade talks yield little progress while tensions simmer
[October 02, 2026] By
CLAIRE SAVAGE and MATT SEDENSKY
MILWAUKEE (AP) — G20 trade ministers failed to reach an agreement
Thursday to curb the flooding of markets with overproduced, underpriced
goods, a practice the Trump administration says undercuts American
manufacturers.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, emerging from the gathering,
said talks were constructive despite not reaching consensus on the
issue, which is known as “excess capacity.”
“Nearly all countries agreed that this is an issue that required action.
And nearly all countries agreed that our current system of trade
remedies and responses is inadequate to solve this problem,” Greer said.
The White House has accused trading partners of producing a gamut of
goods in quantities surpassing demand, claiming it sends prices downward
and unfairly skews competition. The Trump administration views China as
the leading offender, but has opened investigations into countries from
Norway to Bangladesh.
Besides Chinese-made steel, the administration has claimed industries
including autos, batteries, paper and semiconductors have been plagued
by overproduction, causing the U.S. to lose ground to competitors.
The gathering in Milwaukee of representatives from the G20, which
includes both the biggest industrialized countries and some emerging
markets, bore no signs of a breakthrough on the biggest trade dispute of
the moment, between the U.S. and Canada.
Animosity between the two countries have been growing since the summer,
when President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffs on about $20 billion
worth of Canadian imports, leading Canada to promptly counterpunch with
tariffs of its own. It further devolved this week, with Trump banning
nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic
beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.
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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks during a press
conference Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, at the G20 Trade Ministerial in
Milwaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
 “The reality is there are a handful
of outstanding issues that are quite difficult to resolve,” Greer
said Thursday.
Canada is a seemingly unlikely target of Trump’s trade war. No
country buys more from the United States than its northern neighbor,
an ally long considered so close that the countries share an
unprotected border.
Canadian trade minister Maninder Sidhu, pleaded for cooperation,
saying: “You’re facing some of the same challenges that we’re
facing. Let’s help each other and let’s work through something."
In other discussions at the meeting, trade leaders also failed to
reach a deal on forced labor, an issue the Trump administration has
used as a justification for double-digit tariffs on more than 60
countries. The breadth of the levies, which cover 99% of U.S.
imports, suggests another motivation: replacing worldwide tariffs
that Trump imposed last year only to see them struck down by the
Supreme Court in February.
“Believe it or not, we have countries in the G20 that do not want to
commit to having a prohibition on the import of goods made with
forced labor,” Greer said. “At the end of the day, we all know
forced labor is wrong, and it will distort our markets, and we won’t
have it." ___
Sedensky reported from New York.
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