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2. Global trade (im)balances
Correcting global trade imbalances will be a key issue at this week’s meeting. In October, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested that the G20 set targets for current accounts – essentially the sum of its exports minus its imports – but was rebuffed by several countries. The US is running one of the largest deficits of the G20 members, while China and Germany are running the largest surpluses. The US would like to keep countries within a particular range to keep them on relatively even footing and avoid China and Germany flooding the market with cheap exports, blocking out other countries attempting to make an economic recovery.
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