LA MALBAIE, CANADA: With the recent announcement by the US to impose tarriffs on steel and aluminium imports from traditional allies such as Canada, Mexico and the EU, the G-7 summit in Canada was expected to involve tense negotiations over issues revolving around trade.
One such moment that captured the tense atmosphere regarding recent US policies was shared by the official Instagram account of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The image showed Angel Merkel, US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and US National Security Adviser John Bolton. Donald Trump with his armed crossed seems unconvinced by Angela Merkel, who is leaning on the table in front of him, attempting to convince him as Macron, May and Abe look on.
One scene – four different perspectives #G7
1) by Merkel‘s team ??
2) by Macron’s team ??
3) by Conte’s team ??
4) by Trump’s team ?? pic.twitter.com/q3qaSfaiQS— Fabian Reinbold (@fabreinbold) June 9, 2018
EXPECTED MESS:
During the summit, Trump’s meetings with leaders from the other G7 members — which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom, plus the European Union (which is not technically part of the G7 but participates) — were reportedly pretty tense and confrontational.
That was to be expected. Trump has placed steel and aluminum tariffs on every other member of the G7, and that was bound to be a major topic of contention during talks. The French also intended to push Trump to make policy concessions on climate policy and the Iran nuclear deal.
The divides between the US and its allies were so big that France and Germany had signaled that they might refrain from signing the final joint statement unless the US made some major policy concessions.
Before everything wrapped up, it was hard to discern how the US would act. Trump’s comments to reporters before he left the summit sent mixed signals on where he stood. He said that the complete elimination of tariffs were “the ultimate thing” that the countries were striving for but he also said that he would be willing to “stop trading” with countries that put unfair tariffs on US goods.
“We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing — and that ends,” he said.
Yet as the summit came to an end, it appeared that all of the countries had decided to sign a final statement despite the tensions. Trudeau’s government released the joint statement and announced that it had been signed by all seven members of the G7.
But moments later Trump blasted Trudeau and said the US was in fact not a signatory to the statement.
“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique,” Trump tweeted.
Trump was responding to a press conference during which Trudeau had promised to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs with tariffs of his own.
“I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do,” Trudeau said. “As Canadians, we are polite, we’re reasonable, but also we will not be pushed around.”
ISOLATED TRUMP LEAVES EARLY:
US President Donald Trump pulled out of a joint statement negotiated by the leaders of seven advanced economies at a fractious G7 summit in Canada.
In their eight-page communique released on Saturday after two days of often fierce arguments, the leaders of the US, Germany, Britain, France, Japan, Italy and Canada vowed to tackle protectionism and cut trade barriers.
But the pledge did little to bridge a growing divide among the G7 partners following Trump’s imposition of tariffs on its allies last week and a looming threat of a global trade war.
Trump left the meeting in the Quebec resort town of La Malbaie early to head to Singapore for a much-anticipated summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un on June 12.
