Leaders of the G7 nations on Saturday papered over the cracks in their alliance at a summit in Canada but came away with little more than an agreement to disagree on trade, as U. S. President Donald Trump defiantly brandished his „America First“ agenda.<\/b>
\nLA MALBAIE, Quebec (Reuters) – Leaders of the G7 nations on Saturday papered over the cracks in their alliance at a summit in Canada but came away with little more than an agreement to disagree on trade, as U. S. President Donald Trump defiantly brandished his \u201cAmerica First\u201d agenda.
Trump, who last week slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico, left the Group of Seven summit early but not before threatening to cut off trade with countries that treated the United States unfairly.
\u201cWe\u2019re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing,\u201d he said at a press conference as his G7 counterparts continued their two-day meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, and officials hammered out a joint communique.
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just G7. I mean, we have India, where some of the tariffs are 100 percent… And we charge nothing,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s going to stop. Or we\u2019ll stop trading with them.\u201d
In their communique, the leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan agreed on the need for \u201cfree, fair, and mutually beneficial trade\u201d and the importance of fighting protectionism.
\u201cWe strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies,\u201d they said in the statement.
Trump, who repeated that his tariffs are meant to protect U. S. industry and workers from unfair international competition, told reporters he had suggested to the other G7 leaders that all trade barriers, including tariffs and subsidies, be eliminated.
He also denied the summit had been contentious, a remark that contradicted what one G7 official described as an \u201cextraordinary\u201d exchange on Friday in which Trump repeated a list of trade grievances, mainly concerning the EU and Canada.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the official\u2019s remarks about Trump.
Trump\u2019s counterparts in the G7 have been scrambling this week to try to find some semblance of consensus with Washington on trade and the other key issues that have formed the basis of the 42-year-old organization.
\u201cThese are jointly shared principles, although the pitfalls lie in the details,\u201d German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a press conference before the release of the communique.
French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a good first step that represented the G7 nations\u2019 desire to stabilize the situation.
\u201cNevertheless, I do not consider that with a declaration all is obtained and it is obvious that we will have in the coming weeks, the next months, to continue to work,\u201d Macron told reporters.<\/p>\n

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