G7 meeting to start amidst a tweet and trade tariffs tension

Reuters report that the leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations are set to clash with a combative U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday when they pressure him to lift sanctions on steel and aluminum they fear could lead to a trade war.

If a ‘twitter’ exchange is to be seen as the overture for this meeting than the setting is rather full of animosity. Canada and France have taken a strong position against the US. The US president did not shy away and upped the ante.

President Donald Trump on Thursday took more jabs at Canada and France on the eve of the G-7 summit.

In a tweet, Trump accused the U.S. allies of levying “massive tariffs” and creating “non-monetary barriers.”

French President Emmanuel Macron in a tweet had threatened to exclude U.S. from a joint statement issued every year at the G-7 summit.

“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. 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,” Macron tweeted.