One expert is sounding alarm bells after a meeting of officials in Germany over the weekend.
Former Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said Monday that the G-20 financial leaders' dropping their traditionally strong support of free trade was "disturbing" and reflected rising protectionism in the U.S.
"It's pretty disappointing when you get finance ministers from leading countries in the world who, out of the blue, are unable to validate the commitment to anti-protectionism which is the underpinning globalization," said Roach.
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's 20 biggest economies were unable to follow through with their commitment to endorse free trade in the G-20 communique, as the new Trump administration seeks to put "America first."
Instead of "globalization as a force that is bringing us together, (Trump) feels it is a force that is punishing American middle-class workers," Roach explained.
Roach reckoned that, for the Trump administration, "it's going to be bilateral deals, get tough on China, Mexico, Germany and others that are in the cross-hairs of enlightened individuals like Peter Navarro."
Navarro, director of the White House's National Trade Council and advisor to President Trump, has repeatedly argued that China practices a perverse form of capitalism that undermines the U.S. economy by working with U.S. businesses against America's long-term interests.
