Trump torpedoes G7 effort to ease trade spat, threatens auto tariffs
LA MALBAIE, QUEBEC: US President Donald Trump threw the G7’s efforts to show a united front into disarray after taking aim at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, adding he might double down on import tariffs by hitting the sensitive auto industry.
Having left the Group of Seven summit in Canada early, Trump’s announcement that he was backing out of the joint communiqué torpedoed what appeared to be a fragile consensus on the trade dispute between Washington and its top allies.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!” the US president tweeted.
In his press conference, Trudeau had spoken of retaliatory measures that Canada would take next month in response to Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.
“Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable but we also will not be pushed around,” Trudeau, the host of the two-day summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, told reporters.
Reacting to Trump’s tweets, Trudeau’s off ice said: “We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the summit. The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before - both in public, and in private conversations with the President.”
Germany continued to support the “jointly agreed communiqué” despite Trump’s decision to back away, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement on Sunday.
In Paris, a French presidency official said France and Europe stood by the G7 communiqué and anyone departing from the commitments made at the summit would be showing their “incoherence and inconsistency”. — Reuters