Macron threatens rare rebuke of U.S.
QUEBEC, CANADA » French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday threatened to join with other world leaders to issue a rare rebuke of the United States at a global summit here this weekend, drawing an immediate and sharp reply from President Donald Trump.
Macron threatened to exclude the United States fromthe joint statement issued every year at the end of the G7 summit, part of an international pushback against Trump efforts to change trade rules.
“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be,” Ma- cron wrote on Twit - ter. “Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force.”
Trump responded by accusing Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of hurting the United States with unfair trade practices.
“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create nonmonetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow,” Trump wrote.
Macron is scheduled to meet one- on- one with Trump during the G7, and the Twitter barbs could be a prelude for an awkward confrontation.
The joint statements are often ceremonial and don’t carry the weight of international law, but they do establish a measure of common principles that each nation shares.
Trump and his senior advisers have already discussed the idea of refusing to sign a joint statement, known as a communique.