ASHEVILLE, N.C.—U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived here to host global economic officials in the Blue Ridge Mountains, fresh off the breakdown of trade talks with Canada, currency and bond-market interventions, and President Trump’s renewed economic threats against Iran.

Two days later, the G-20 finance ministers’ gathering comes to a close amid a global bond-market selloff, spats over tariffs, public insults and fighting over a group photo.

Just as the meetings were getting started, Bessent had harsh words for Canada, saying it was impossible for the U.S. neighbor to be in a tit-for-tat trade war with “someone who’s 13 times larger than you are.” Bessent also joked that Canada might send mini-submarines previously used on an amusement-park ride to attack the U.S. The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, posted a photo on social media of two young women at a Canadian cadet training center that was interpreted as mocking their weight and gender.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions. But look, it’s not constructive,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The Treasury Department didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment about the summit.

Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said he met with Bessent Tuesday. “The message I am going to bring, of course, is that we are going to stand up for our workers,” he told reporters before the meeting.

On Tuesday, Bessent lit into Iran, comparing it to a dying snake still wriggling after decapitation. The prolonged standoff between the U.S. and Iran has added to inflation and put bond markets on edge, and Bessent’s comments suggest that the U.S. is willing to endure more economic pain in order to squeeze Tehran.

This annual summit has been showing signs of fraying for years. In 2025, Bessent skipped the finance ministers’ meeting hosted by South Africa amid Trump’s allegations that South Africa was confiscating land from white South Africans.

The Treasury secretary arrived making the case that the Trump administration was well on its way to fixing an American economy that had floundered under the Biden administration, and that other countries could thrive by following a similar deregulatory agenda.

“I say sometimes I feel like an emergency-room doctor, and the economy is the patient, and the American people were backed over by the Biden Mack truck,” Bessent told reporters Monday. “We have stabilized the patient, and now we are in the healing portion.”

The U.S. economy, however, has shown signs of strain. The U.S. government is running huge budget deficits, gasoline prices are high, the labor market lost 23,000 jobs in July, and inflation is still above the Fed’s target.

Bessent was joined at the summit by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who faces a tough decision about whether to raise interest rates as soon as this month to combat inflation, despite Trump’s demands for lower rates. Warsh has suggested the Fed might need to act, another factor pushing bond yields higher.

Leaders of two of America’s biggest banks, Goldman Sachs David Solomon and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, took part in a roundtable discussion with finance ministers on Monday. The Trump administration privately requested the executives discuss the state of the U.S. economy at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Dimon, in a statement sent to reporters by G-20 organizers, cheered the invite. “For the first time at G-20, the Treasury has given the private sector a place at the table. Good policy is made better when those who lend, hire, invest and build have a voice in shaping it,” Dimon said.

Solomon said in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the conference that his outlook is “pretty constructive” and that the “economy is performing well,” noting headwinds with conflicts in the Middle East and trade wars.

Some executives who attended the summit and met with Bessent told their advisers that in private, Bessent made the case that the U.S. economy remains strong. He offered few new details or conclusions during the meetings on how the administration plans to handle Iran as well as a sluggish market, these people said.

The bond market, though, was casting its own verdict on the challenge governments are up against.

The market for U.S. Treasurys, long considered an ultrasafe asset by investors, was flashing a warning light. Short- and long-term yield benchmarks both set new 2026 highs Tuesday.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com, Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com, Paul Vieira at Paul.Vieira@wsj.com and Kim Mackrael at kim.mackrael@wsj.com

ASHEVILLE, N.C.—U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived here to host global economic officials in the Blue Ridge Mountains, fresh off the breakdown of trade talks with Canada, currency and bond-market interventions, and President Trump’s renewed economic threats against Iran.

Two days later, the G-20 finance ministers’ gathering comes to a close amid a global bond-market selloff, spats over tariffs, public insults and fighting over a group photo.

Just as the meetings were getting started, Bessent had harsh words for Canada, saying it was impossible for the U.S. neighbor to be in a tit-for-tat trade war with “someone who’s 13 times larger than you are.” Bessent also joked that Canada might send mini-submarines previously used on an amusement-park ride to attack the U.S. The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, posted a photo on social media of two young women at a Canadian cadet training center that was interpreted as mocking their weight and gender.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions. But look, it’s not constructive,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The Treasury Department didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment about the summit.

Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said he met with Bessent Tuesday. “The message I am going to bring, of course, is that we are going to stand up for our workers,” he told reporters before the meeting.

On Tuesday, Bessent lit into Iran, comparing it to a dying snake still wriggling after decapitation. The prolonged standoff between the U.S. and Iran has added to inflation and put bond markets on edge, and Bessent’s comments suggest that the U.S. is willing to endure more economic pain in order to squeeze Tehran.

This annual summit has been showing signs of fraying for years. In 2025, Bessent skipped the finance ministers’ meeting hosted by South Africa amid Trump’s allegations that South Africa was confiscating land from white South Africans.

The Treasury secretary arrived making the case that the Trump administration was well on its way to fixing an American economy that had floundered under the Biden administration, and that other countries could thrive by following a similar deregulatory agenda.

“I say sometimes I feel like an emergency-room doctor, and the economy is the patient, and the American people were backed over by the Biden Mack truck,” Bessent told reporters Monday. “We have stabilized the patient, and now we are in the healing portion.”

The U.S. economy, however, has shown signs of strain. The U.S. government is running huge budget deficits, gasoline prices are high, the labor market lost 23,000 jobs in July, and inflation is still above the Fed’s target.

Bessent was joined at the summit by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who faces a tough decision about whether to raise interest rates as soon as this month to combat inflation, despite Trump’s demands for lower rates. Warsh has suggested the Fed might need to act, another factor pushing bond yields higher.

Leaders of two of America’s biggest banks, Goldman Sachs David Solomon and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, took part in a roundtable discussion with finance ministers on Monday. The Trump administration privately requested the executives discuss the state of the U.S. economy at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Dimon, in a statement sent to reporters by G-20 organizers, cheered the invite. “For the first time at G-20, the Treasury has given the private sector a place at the table. Good policy is made better when those who lend, hire, invest and build have a voice in shaping it,” Dimon said.

Solomon said in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the conference that his outlook is “pretty constructive” and that the “economy is performing well,” noting headwinds with conflicts in the Middle East and trade wars.

Some executives who attended the summit and met with Bessent told their advisers that in private, Bessent made the case that the U.S. economy remains strong. He offered few new details or conclusions during the meetings on how the administration plans to handle Iran as well as a sluggish market, these people said.

The bond market, though, was casting its own verdict on the challenge governments are up against.

The market for U.S. Treasurys, long considered an ultrasafe asset by investors, was flashing a warning light. Short- and long-term yield benchmarks both set new 2026 highs Tuesday.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com, Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com, Paul Vieira at Paul.Vieira@wsj.com and Kim Mackrael at kim.mackrael@wsj.com