Donald Trump announced via Twitter that the US had withdrawn its endorsement of a joint communiqué and launched a blistered attack on the Canadian Prime Minister. Trump described Trudeau as dishonest and weak as he accused Canada of trying to take advantage of US interests.
In a tweet he said “Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!”
The FT said that this was a remarkable reversal, as officials had believed the usual “communique” joint agreement had already been agreed by all the major parties following laborious negotiations and despite earlier splits between Mr Trump and the other six national leaders. Among other things, the communique said signatories would “strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies.” The FT adds that the president’s intervention marks a painful setback for America’s G7 allies, who had hoped to finish their summit with a display of unity following a bad-tempered lead-up to the summit. But in a press conference before his departure, Mr Trump struck a defiant note over trade, warning that if US partners do not reform their trade practices they could lose access to its market.
The Telegraph reports that this attitude and message “ mirrored the build-up to talks which were thrown into disarray by his appeal for Russia to be readmitted to the G7 and promised not to back down on tariffs.”
European Union’s reaction to Trump’s tweet, according to sources quoted by ANSA, was that the EU will stick to the press release, as approved by all the participants at the G7.
On Friday, European and Canadian leaders had sought to defuse the gathering conflict, rolling out statistics on how many US jobs depended on their countries’ trade and investment and arguing that the US had more barriers to trade than its partners.
The US President earlier, also had a tough stance vis-a-vis the EU and said that the US has been “taken advantage of for decades and decades” and warned the European Union that it would be a “mistake” to start a trade war with the US, adding: “We can’t lose, the numbers are so astronomically against them. We win that war 1,000 times out of 1,000.” “The European Union is brutal to the United States,” he railed. “And they understand that. They know it. When I’m telling them, they’re smiling at me. You know, it’s like the gig is up.”
Canada too, the president said, “can’t believe it got away” with its trade deal with the US.
“We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing. And that ends,” Trump said.
The president even threatened to stop doing business with US partners if they did not change their policies.
