US unafraid of trade war after G20 meet

The United States is not seeking a trade war over tariffs but does not fear one, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said today after a meeting of G20 finance ministers.

A trade war "is not our goal, but we are not afraid of it," Mnuchin said at the end of the two-day meeting in Buenos Aires aimed at averting a crisis sparked by looming US tariffs on steel and aluminium.

"We have to be prepared to act in the US interest to defend free and fair reciprocal trade. In doing that there is always a risk.

"That's not our goal. But we are not afraid of it," he said.

Mnuchin was speaking after ministers agreed not to condemn the US move in the meeting's final statement, but instead spoke of "heightened economic and geopolitical tensions."
"The EU does not want an escalation on trade, it does not want a trade war, but it is ready to react, even if our preferred option is dialogue," he said. "Our countermeasures are ready."