US defends tough trade stance at global finance meeting

WASHINGTON — The United States is resisting pressure to back off President Donald Trump’s tough America First trade policy at a meeting of global finance leaders worried about the threat of a damaging trade war.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (mih-NOO’-shin) charged that “unfair global trade practices impede stronger U.S. and global growth, acting as a persistent drag on the global economy.” He urged the International Monetary Fund to do more to combat unfair trade practices.

Mnuchin issued the comments Friday during the spring meetings of the 189-country IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank. The three days of meetings wrap up Saturday.

Other countries have used the gathering to protest Trump’s protectionist trade policies, which mark a reversal of seven decades of U.S. support for ever-freer global commerce.