G7 dispute leads to Trudeau being both raised to heaven and condemned to hell

Charges of unfair trade practices, and sticky issues of aluminium, steel and dairy products

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have expected a lot to happen during the G-7 summit last weekend, but being condemned to an after-life in both hell and heaven probably wasn’t on the list.

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door ... And that’s what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in a Fox News interview Sunday.

The European Union responded swiftly to the attack on Sunday evening, with European Council President Donald Tusk tweeting that Trudeau deserved a “special place in heaven” for organising the G-7 summit.

What caused the rift? As Trump had already left the G-7 summit and was on his way to Singapore for his upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trudeau gave a press conference in which he went to great lengths to not offend Trump. But the Canadian prime minister still said a few things that didn’t go down well inside Air Force One.

Embedded in more polite remarks, Trudeau reiterated his objections to Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium from Canada, Mexico and the European Union and his own plans to introduce retaliatory measures targeting US products.

“Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around,” Trudeau said, triggering a dispute that currently revolves around three key issues.

Before Trump’s pull-out, all G7 nations agreed to a joint reaffirmation of “free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade and investment.” The president later appeared to backtrack from his support for that statement, writing that “Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal.”

According to a Canada release, they make almost $100 billion in Trade with US (guess they were bragging and got caught!). Minimum is 17B. Tax Dairy from us at 270 per cent. Then Justin acts hurt when called out!”

Trump has repeatedly complained about Canadian tariffs on imported dairy products — and hell or heaven aside, the truth is that neither the United States nor Europe nor Canada are exactly angels when it comes to their trade policies.

It’s true that Canadian farmers benefit from high tariffs on imported dairy, while many US farmers are facing an existential crisis.

In his tweets following the G-7 summit, Trump also indicated that he may soon target foreign cars produced for the US market.

At the moment, the European Union targets US-built cars with a 10-per cent tariff, while the United States distinguishes between vans or pickup trucks and other cars. European carmakers argue that they employ tens of thousands of American workers across the United States and that any tariffs would result in US layoffs.

In tweets and public remarks, Trump has said that he believes Europe and Canada are engaging in unfair trade practices that put the US at a disadvantage.