TRUMP REFUSES TO BUDGE
Leaders end summit with vague commitment to keep talking on trade
LEADERS of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations who threatened to confront President Donald Trump for slapping them with tariffs ended their annual summit with a vague commitment to keep talking on trade, failing to secure major concessions from the United States leader.
G7 leaders on Saturday struggled through two days of behindthe-scenes tension to secure the traditional release of a closing communique.
That statement highlighted the crucial role of a rules-based trading system, which was important to Europe, while also underscoring the importance of free, fair and reciprocal trade — borrowing vocabulary often used by Trump.
Trump headed into the G7 talks in Canada having picked fights with some of his biggest allies, who vowed to confront him on new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. Once on the ground in Quebec, though, he turned the tables on leaders who accused the US of protectionism.
Trump shook up the meeting on Saturday by proposing to eliminate all barriers to global trade, a surprise turnaround from his aggressive tone on tariffs before the summit.
“No tariffs, no barriers, that’s the way it should be, and no subsidies,” said Trump during a 30minute conference in La Malbaie.
“I did suggest it and people were — I guess they’re going to go back to the drawing board and check it out.”
Trump complained about Canada’s protected dairy sector, citing up to 300 per cent tariffs that he said stood in the way of American farmers accessing the market.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron had been especially vocal ahead of Trump’s arrival, with Macron threatening not to sign up to a communique unless Trump made concessions on his tariffs.
The European leaders sought to show unity against Trump and prod him into concessions on the tariffs, or at least an agreement to talk more about them.
But Trump’s gambit, which his economic adviser Larry Kudlow said amounted to a free trade proclamation, called the other leaders’ bluff — if they’re so opposed to his new tariffs, he suggested, why not eliminate all tariffs?
Trudeau described the closing statement as an “ambitious” agreement on a broad range of issues.
Macron, meanwhile, made clear the disputes remained and bemoaned the lack of G7 unity.