Yellen says isolationism 'made America and the world worse off' in speech to global finance leaders

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is telling world financial leaders that the U.S. economy has grown stronger because the Biden administration rejected isolationism, offering a barely veiled criticism of former President Donald Trump’s policies two weeks before the U.S. election. Without mentioning Trump by name, she said in an advance draft of her remarks that the Biden administration had ended a period of international isolationism that “made America and the world worse off.” ”We went from millions having lost their jobs to a historic labor market recovery,” Yellen says. She said U.S. economic growth has been “almost twice as fast as most other advanced economies this year and last, even as inflation came down sooner.” The meetings mark the last major international finance gathering held during the Biden administration and comes as economic issues are a top concern for American voters. She alluded to Trump's international leadership saying: “From day one, we rejected isolationism that made America and the world worse off and pursued global economic leadership that supports economies around the world and brings significant benefits to the American people and the U.S. economy.” Trump, who has embraced isolationism and criticized multilateral institutions, promises as president to impose a 60% tariff on all Chinese goods and a “universal’’ tariff of 10% or 20% on everything else that enters the United States, insisting that the cost of taxing imported goods is absorbed by the foreign countries that produce those goods.