G7 in historic split as Trump digs in

US president keeps leaders in dark about Paris accord

G7 LEADERS wrapped up their annual summit at the weekend with an unprecedented display of division over climate change as US President Donald Trump rebuffed pressure to toe the collective line in the club of powerful democracies.

Trump tweeted he would reveal his hand only this week as to whether he will keep the US in the Paris Agreement, a global pact on curbing carbon emissions he vowed to jettison when campaigning for the White House.

The Group of Seven leading economies, in an extraordinary summit statement, acknowledged that six members were committed to upholding the 2015 accord while the US stood apart.

“The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics,” the statement said in highly unusual language.

Despite the discord, Trump concluded his first overseas trip on a typically bullish note, telling US service families at the Sigonella base he had “hit a home run” shortly before taking off to fly back home. Condemning last week’s deadly terror attacks in Manchester and Egypt, Trump said such atrocities “steel our resolve”.

“Together civilised nations will crush the terrorists, block their funding, strip them of their territory and drive them out of this Earth,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also crossed swords with Trump on free trade at the G7, complained the US president was keeping his colleagues in the dark.

“The whole discussion on the topic of climate was very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory,” she said, labelling the G7 deadlock as “six against one”.

On trade, the G7 vowed “to keep our markets open and to fight protectionism”, but also to combat “unfair trade practices” and help those left behind by globalisation, after Trump came to power vowing “America First”.

On other fronts, the G7 noted the global economy remains patchy with downside risks, pledging “to use all policy tools” to sustain growth; threatened stronger sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea if Moscow’s actions warrant it; - condemned nuclear-armed North Korea’s recent missile tests and said they were ready to take new measures as necessary after various rounds of UN sanctions; demanded support from Russia and Iran for a peace process in Syria, and similarly called for an inclusive dialogue in Libya.

After starting his first presidential trip abroad wreathed in smiles, Trump ended it with rebukes, upbraiding the US’s European partners over military spending, trade and global warming.

An enduring motif of the G7, which represents the lion’s share of global economic output, has been to champion free trade. At last year’s summit in Japan, leaders issued a lengthy communique in support of resisting protectionism, as well as helping refugees and fighting climate change.

But that was then, when Barack Obama still occupied the White House. Today, his successor is defiant about defying the G7 line after accusing China, Germany and others of cheating in international trade.

Trump reportedly described the Germans as “bad, very bad” in their trade practices while visiting Brussels this past week. “We had very hard deliberations and discussions about trade but we found a reasonable solution,” Merkel said, stressing the G7 statement’s commitment to open markets.

The G7 leaders began the concluding day of their annual summit with discussions with leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Tunisia. The five African states are key players in the Mediterranean migration crisis, as countries of origin or transit for hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to reach Europe via perilous sea crossings.

The G7’s Italian presidency held this year’s summit on an ancient hilltop resort in Sicily to underline the proximity of the crisis.

But even that prompted discord among participants as Trump resisted the hosts’ desire to issue a declaration underlining the benefits, as well as pitfalls, of migration.

That sort of language is anathema to a White House that wants to impose a ban on travellers from six Muslim-majority countries. — AFP