Tensions between U.S., EU cloud G7 summit
Trump’s moves on China, Iran irk partners
BIARRITZ, France — President Donald Trump arrived here on Saturday for three days of meetings with world leaders at a Group of Seven economic summit that was already turning contentious even on a largely ceremonial first day.
Each of the leaders at the annual summit of the world’s seven largest industrialized economies is facing domestic turmoil and brings low expectations about collectively tackling major global challenges, from climate change to slowing economies.
The challenge other leaders seemed most focused on was the president of the United States.
Trump added fresh turmoil Friday when he demanded U.S. companies stop doing business in China, and said he would raise tariffs on Chinese imports as high as 30% in response to Beijing’s decision to place added tariffs on U.S. goods. It marked yet another incendiary escalation in a trade war that has rattled investors, worried central bankers and clouded the global economy.
Looking to present a united front and to set an agenda broader and more unifying than trade, the summit’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, surprised Trump at the Hotel du Palais with a private lunch on the patio.
Although some White House officials grumbled about Macron’s unexpected invite, both leaders spoke optimistically afterward about potential for progress at the three-day summit.
“This will be very important,” Macron said. “We will be allies, friends.”
Trump responded in kind: “So far, so good,” he said. “The weather is fantastic. Everybody’s getting along. I think we will accomplish a lot this weekend.”
The warm words didn’t fully defuse the tension.
Shortly before Air Force One touched down in France, European Council President Donald Tusk bluntly described the disagreements separating the European Union from the U.S. on several matters, including the escalating trade war with China.
“Trade wars will lead to recessions” and “trade wars among G-7 members will lead to an eroding of the already weakened trust among us,” Tusk said at a news conference.
He also criticized Trump for withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, which he said “hasn’t brought about any positive results.”
And he responded to another provocation from Trump, who stopped to speak to reporters late Friday as he departed the White House, promising to impose taxes on French wine “like you’ve never seen before” in response to a possible French tax aimed at large U.S. technology companies.
Macron on Saturday called for an end to the trade wars that he said are “taking hold everywhere” and urged world leaders here to focus on helping Brazil and other South American countries fight the fires currently burning in the Amazon.
Conservationists have blamed the fires on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land. Bolsonaro complained that calls from Macron and other G-7 leaders to address the fires in Brazil’s rainforests reflect “a misplaced colonialist mindset.”
Trump tweeted prior to leaving Washington that he’d just spoken to Bolsonaro. “Our future Trade prospects are very exciting and our relationship is strong, perhaps stronger than ever before,” Trump tweeted.