Allies race to clinch G7 face- saver as Trump makes early exit
La Malbaie ( Canada), June 9: President Donald Trump quit the G7 summit in Quebec early Saturday having made no concessions to his allies’ anger at his imposition of tariffs designed, in his eyes, to rebalance world trade. In fact, the US leader instead boasted he had made progress in convincing his counterparts from the world’s richest democracies of the need to change the rules of the game in America’s favour.
Mr Trump left the summit for Singapore and his historic nuclear summit with Kim Jong- Un in much the same position as he had come in — alone in the face of the six other G7 members working to defend multilateral trade rules. An official from French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said there was still hope a joint communique would be signed.
The French side still expect the text to signal support for “rules- based” cooperation rather than for Mr Trump’s preference for bilateral deals with American partners designed to reduce US trade deficits. Mr Trump was upbeat, however, arguing that he could tell from the smiles of European leaders around the table that they knew that “the gig is up” and that they would be obliged to negotiate terms with Washington. “They can’t believe they got away with it,” he declared, repeating his mantra that G7 members have been taking advantage of the naivety of his predecessors for decades. “We want and expect other nations to provide fair market access to American exports and ... we will take whatever steps are necessary to protect industry and workers from unfair practices, of which there are many. But we’re getting them worked out.” The text of the annual G7 joint communique is usually all but final before the leaders meet for two days of gladhanding and group photo opportunities, but this year officials were negotiating even as Mr Trump headed for his plane.
If the G7 fails to agree a final communique — or if it is watered down too far for the sake of appeasing the “America First” economic agenda — Canada’s G7 will be remembered mainly for fierce disagreements over Trump’s tariffs and his surprise request to return Russia to the fold.