US president is expected to arrive on Friday at the annual gathering but will leave before it ends to fly to Singapore for his highly anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Solidifying his solo status on the world stage, President Donald Trump is lashing out at long-time allies over their critiques of his trade policies and plans an early exit from the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialised nations.
Trump will arrive on Friday at the annual gathering, held this year at a Quebec resort, but will leave Saturday morning before it is even over to fly to Singapore for his highly anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The White House announced his travel plans after French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled they will use the event to take a stance against new US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
“Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G7 countries,” Trump tweeted early on Friday. “If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better.”
Trump also singled out tariffs on US dairy products in yet another scathing tweet directed at Canada just before the summit begins. “Canada charges the U. S. a 270% tariff on Dairy Products! They didn’t tell you that, did they? Not fair to our farmers!”
His fiery Twitter rant came after a joint press conference late on Thursday, where Macron said: “A trade war doesn’t spare anyone. It will start first of all to hurt US workers.” And Trudeau said: “We are going to defend our industries and our workers.”
Trudeau, for his part, said Trump’s action would hurt American workers as well as Canadians.
“If I can get the president to actually realise that what he’s doing is counterproductive for his own goals as well, perhaps we can move forward in a smarter way,” Trudeau said.
Their comments prompted a swift retort from the US leader.
He said in a tweet: “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the US massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers.
