US allies angry about metal import tariffs

WHISTLER: Finance leaders of the closest US allies vented anger over the Trump Administration’s metal import tariffs on Saturday, ending a threeday meeting with a stern rebuke to Washington and setting up a heated fight at a G7 summit next week in Quebec.

In a rare show of division among the normally harmonious club of wealthy nations, the six other G7 member countries issued a statement asking US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to convey their ‘‘unanimous concern and disappointment’’ about the tariffs to President Donald Trump.

The 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs were imposed this week on Mexico, Canada and the European Union.

‘‘We’re concerned that these actions are actually not conducive to helping our economy — they actually are destructive, and that is consistently held across the six countries that expressed their point of view to Secretary Mnuchin,’’ Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said at a news conference after the meeting ended in the Canadian mountain resort town of Whistler, British Columbia.

The statement, written by Canada, also called for ‘‘decisive action’’ to resolve the tariff dispute at a G7 leaders’ summit starting next weekend in Charlevoix, Quebec.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said that direct discussions between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump might help resolve the issue.

Japan has refused to accept import quotas.

‘‘I’ve been to these meetings for a long time. But this is a very rare case where opposition against the United States was unanimous,’’ he said.

Mnuchin rejected comments from some G7 officials the United States was circumventing international trade rules with the tariffs or ceding leadership of a global economic and trading system it largely built after World War 2.

The US Treasury chief said he had already relayed some of the G7 comments to Trump and added the US president would address trade issues with other G7 leaders, but declined to speculate on any outcomes.

All six of the other G7 countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — are now paying the metals tariffs, which are largely aimed at curbing excess production in China.

Canada and Mexico, which are embroiled in talks with the United States to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, responded to the move by announcing levies of their own on a variety of US exports.

The EU is set to retaliate with tariffs on a range of US goods, from HarleyDavidson motorcycles to jeans and bourbon.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the United States had only a few days to avoid sparking a trade war with its allies and it was up to Washington to make a move to deescalate the tensions.— Reuters