The US Trade Representative convened senior officials of 14 economies on the margins of the OECD Trade Committee, and all fifteen signed a joint ministerial statement expressing collective resolve to work in new, dedicated sectoral platforms to examine and take effective action against structural excess capacity and production in several key sectors of concern. The signatories are Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Poland, Türkiye, the UK and the US, building on discussions at the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee. USTR Ambassador Greer said unchecked overcapacity, sustained by foreign governments’ non-market policies and practices, would continue to cripple domestic industries and displace local production.
Fifteen economies sign statement targeting manufacturing overcapacity
The US and 14 economies signed a joint ministerial statement on October 7 resolving to build sectoral platforms to confront structural excess capacity in key manufacturing sectors and calling on all countries to end non-market policies and practices.
Why it matters: The coalition is aimed at China without naming it, and the sectoral platforms could become the mechanism for coordinated industrial-policy measures that reshape commodity flows in oversupplied sectors like steel and aluminum.
Data as of USTR press release, October 7, 2026. Single source: the release itself; the Joint Ministerial Statement text was not yet independently reviewed.