U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he already warned other trading partners last year that tougher U.S. tariffs would lead to an influx of Chinese goods diverted to their markets.
"And unfortunately, I was right. They have - and the rest of the world probably needs to take a hard look at what they should be doing to protect their citizens' jobs," he told the meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
"We're seeing a lot of non-market economies with these big imbalances that are sucking growth from the rest of the world," Bessent told reporters.
China's massive export push has pressured economies across the globe, especially as the United States has imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods and outright bans on some products, such as Chinese vehicles.
With chronically weak domestic demand, China has doubled down on exports of electric vehicles, semiconductors and other goods, and its total exports rose 23.9% in July year-on-year, prompting growing calls in Europe for tougher curbs on Chinese imports.
"We do know that Chinese currency is hugely undervalued, that China is supporting, very actively subsidizing its exports and this is a problem for Europe as well," Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Reuters late on Monday.
China's goods trade surplus with the European Union hit €360.6 billion last year, a 15% increase on 2024, and has expanded further this year as Chinese firms have sold more to the EU and imported less.
European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis agreed that China is a major source of economic imbalances, but said the U.S. and Europe both also had roles to play in evening things out.
G20 member China has shown little interest in longstanding calls for it to reduce industrial subsidies and rebalance its economy, while its yuan currency remains significantly undervalued by most measures.
Beijing has also exploited its dominance in processing of critical minerals by placing export restrictions on rare earths in April 2025, a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs that has also hit non-U.S. companies.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, speaking at a news briefing on Monday evening after the first day of talks, said she had told her G20 counterparts that arbitrary export restrictions on critical minerals were harming the global economy and should be withdrawn.
Officials said the section on global imbalances in the planned joint communique was proving particularly difficult, with China opposed to any singling out of 'non-market economies' or firm words on critical mineral supply curbs.
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