Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Jose Angel Gurria, left, arrives for the start of a G7 of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, in Bari, southern Italy, Thursday, May 11, 2017.
A broader theme not on the written agenda, however, was the desire of foreign leaders to get a better read on Trump's policies, and USA officials desire to make their positions clear. But Mnuchin said trade was discussed "a lot" and his counterparts have become "more comfortable" with the administration's agenda.
The aim of the treaty is "helping countries collect what we believe is a fair share", Gurria told The Associated Press on Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of finance officials from the Group of Seven advanced economies. Under the administration of Donald Trump, the United States are feeling disadvantaged in global trade, not least due to other major currencies being undervalued compared to the dollar and unfavourable trade deals that the U.S. had signed up to in the past 25 years.
"Our objective is to create opportunities for American workers to make things and export them", said Mnuchin, pointing to the administration's recent move to allow USA farmers to sell beef to China.
In the final communique, the ministers and governors only mentioned that they were "working to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies".
The Secretary pointed to the recently announced trade agreement with China as a step in the right direction, as the Trump administration pushes trade deals and negotiations with several key trading partners for more balanced growth.
China Agrees to Open Market to US Beef, Gas
The deficit with China represented about 60 percent of the total USA deficit a year ago of $500.6 billion. The Obama administration continued that effort but reduced the frequency of the talks to once a year.
Finance ministers signaled a truce in their trade quarrel with Donald Trump's administration as his Treasury Secretary said the Group of Seven is starting to understand where he's coming from. "We're going to try to get this done as quickly as we can".
"There won't be a specific session on issues of trade and protectionism but it could come up in the broader discussion on the state of the world economy", said an Italian official involved in preparing the meeting.
The closing statement from Bari will reiterate a warning against competitive devaluations, Italian officials said, as March's G20 did, allaying fears that the new USA administration might weaken the G20's united front on global currency policy.GREEKS FOR BREAKFAST The G7 will kick off on Friday with an early morning discussion of Greece's debt ahead of a May 22 meeting of euro zone finance ministers on the disbursement of new loans, French officials said.
They also vowed to cooperate more against cyber crime, finance the global anti-terror fight, and promote a fair tax system including digital economy.
The G-7 is composed of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S.
He said the discussions, which also included topics like cybersecurity and combating terror financing, were "very productive".
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