China said on Sunday (October 4, 2026) that “divergent opinions” fuelled by U.S. tariffs contributed to the lack of agreement on overcapacity and forced labour at the G20.
The statement did not specify which countries opposed it.
A draft ministerial statement against excess capacity, seen as driving costs down unfairly, “was supported by all but a handful of members”, top U.S. trade official Jamieson Greer said after the talks. “Issues such as overcapacity and forced labor have been highly controversial since their inception,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Sunday (October 4). It said G20 members are subject to tariffs related to forced labour and are “frequently targets” of investigations concerning overcapacity. “Against this backdrop, many members expressed differing views from various viewpoints regarding the presidency’s decision to table these issues and push for the issuance of a joint statement and the establishment of cooperation mechanisms,” it said. “… due to divergent opinions among the majority of members, the meeting failed to produce an outcome document on these topics,” it said. “China has noted that the post-meeting Chair’s Statement mentioned that the U.S. side, together with two other G20 nations, issued a statement outside the G20 framework on the issue of forced labor,” it added.
