At gathering of G20 finance ministers, the Treasury secretary accused Canada’s prime minister of starting a “political shouting match” over U.S. trade policies.
The newly opened Gordie Howe International Bridge, linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, last month. Both the United States and Canada have announced high tariffs on each other’s products.
The meeting, which China and Russia are attending, is focused on the ongoing economic shock from the war in Iran, which has driven up oil prices globally.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh, in Asheville, N.C., before the summit. The International Monetary Fund has projected that global growth will slow this year and that inflation will rise.
The relative indifference to the news that the U.S. government now owes $40 trillion demonstrates how drastically the politics of deficit spending has changed.
Bank Melli, Iran’s largest lender, already faces sanctions that severely limit its ability to operate abroad. Every foreign branch must be shut down, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Experts warn that a campaign aimed at avoiding military escalation could instead provoke it, as Iranian leaders vow retaliation across the oil-rich Gulf.
The U.S. has spent 20 years promising ‘crippling sanctions’ on Iran. But the latest effort comes with a reverse twist, after military action failed to accomplish President Trump’s goals.
In announcing Operation Economic Outcast, the Trump administration said on Monday that it would involve choking off every last transaction that funnels money to Tehran.
Analysts say Tehran could intensify the dispute militarily after the United States announced new efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy. One Iranian official vowed that “not a single drop of oil” would leave the gulf.
Motorists drive past an anti-American billboard in Tehran on Monday. President Trump has threatened Iran with “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale.”
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