BFF-02, 03 G7 divides to G6 plus Trump over trade war threat

558

ZCZC

BFF-02

G7-SUMMIT-DIPLOMACY

G7 divides to G6 plus Trump over trade war threat

LA MALBAIE, Canada, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Leaders of the G7 nations
spent Friday hunting for a face saving formula to mask the deep rift
inflicted on the Western alliance by US President Donald Trump’s assault on
global trade rules.

Senior figures, including Trump, suggested that some kind of joint
statement on the need to jointly re-examine commercial relationships might be
found before their summit ends on Saturday.

But no consensus document will conceal the damage inflicted by the US
leader’s aggressive imposition of tariffs on what had been some of
Washington’s closest allies.

Summit host Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sided with his European
and Japanese colleagues against the US leader and his “illegal” levies on
steel and aluminum imports.

Apparently reveling in a rift that threatens to spiral into a trade war,
Trump stirred the pot by declaring before the talks began that he would like
to see Russia re-admitted to the club.

But this apparently spontaneous suggestion — rejected out of hand by the
other allies — did not make it to the summit table, where instead the
leaders confronted Trump’s assault on the world trade system.

“We’ve made a lot of progress today. We’ll see how it all works out, but
we’ve made a lot of progress,” Trump said, sitting by Trudeau after talks
that an official said were marked by “strong disagreement” but “not heated.”

France’s President Emmanuel Macron also put a brave face on the encounter.

“I think we had a very open and direct discussion this afternoon, we’ve
always had this kind of discussion. And I think on trade, there is a critical
path, there is a way to progress altogether,” he said, speaking in English.

Trump has invoked a US national security provision to unilaterally impose
tariffs on imports of foreign steel and aluminum, to the outrage of his
allies, who have retaliated with a threat of their own, more targeted,
sanctions.

MORE/AU/07:20 hrs

ZCZC

BFF-03

G7-SUMMIT-DIPLOMACY-2-LAST European leaders met separately Friday ahead of
the G7 summit in La Malbaie, a golf resort north of Quebec City, and
presented Trump with a united front “backed by facts and figures” to counter
his charge, officials said.

Trump said he hoped a final summit communique would be agreed, and
officials were to work late into the night, while the leaders enjoyed a
campfire chat and circus acts.

Ahead of the encounter, the allies made no secret of their anger at Trump’s
stance, pointed starkly to fears that he is undermining the rules-based world
order and driving former US friends into a damaging trade war.

European leaders warned Trump’s stance on trade, climate, Iran and — now –
– Russia was setting him apart, and Canada firmly rejected the tariffs threat
and threatened retaliation.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said that Trump’s
determination to bait his allies over trade and diplomatic engagements “would
only play into the hands of those who seek a new post-West order where
liberal democracy and fundamental freedoms would cease to exist.”

Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed outrage that Trump
had invoked a national security justification for his global tariffs, even on
imports from close US allies.

“We are very clear that Canada does not pose a national security threat to
the United States,” she said.

“So this an illegal act. It is absolutely unjustified. We have already
raised cases at the WTO and at NAFTA, and we will retaliate,” she warned.

– Fundamental freedoms –

Trump was the last G7 leader to arrive and will probably be the first to
leave on Saturday when he sets off for his nuclear summit with North Korea’s
Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

With unmistakable symbolism, the fractious Western democracies were meeting
on the same day that China’s President Xi Jinping welcomed his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin to Beijing.

And at the same time as western nations are at loggerheads, the US
president seems more at home with autocrats than with Washington’s
traditional allies.

– Flag burning –

The summit is being held at a luxury resort more than two hours’ drive from
the provincial capital, where more than 400 protesters faced off Thursday and
Friday against police.

Previous G7 summits have seen large-scale anti-globalization protests, but
Trump was a main target of the demonstration as masked anarchists set fire to
US flags and those of other G7 nations.

BSS/AFP/AU/07:25 hrs