G7 Summit: France Condemns Trump ‘Fits Of Anger’

Diplomacy cannot be dictated by “fits of anger”, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned after the G7 summit in Canada ended in acrimony.

In tweets, US President Donald Trump described host Justin Trudeau as “dishonest and weak” and retracted his endorsement of the joint communique.

That statement sought to overcome deep disagreements, notably over trade.

Mr Macron’s office said France and other EU countries would maintain their support for the final G7 communique.

“Let’s be serious and worthy of our people. We make commitments and keep to them,” a statement from the French presidency quoted by AFP news agency said.

“International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks,” it added.

Germany also said it would abide by the communique.

In recent weeks, trading partners of the US have criticised new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed by the Trump administration.

Saturday’s final communique aimed at easing those tensions by advocating a “rules-based trading system”.

In a news conference after the summit, the Canadian leader reasserted his opposition to the US tariffs, and vowed to press ahead with retaliatory moves on 1 July.

“Canadians are polite and reasonable but we will also not be pushed around,” he said.

Tweeting en route to his next summit in Singapore, Mr Trump said he had instructed US officials “not to endorse the communique as we look at tariffs on automobiles”.

He said the move was based on Mr Trudeau’s “false statements… and the fact that Canada is charging massive tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies”.

Later on Sunday Mr Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told CNN that the president and his team had gone to the summit “in good faith” but that Mr Trudeau had “stabbed us in the back”.

Mr Trudeau’s office defended the prime minister’s statement by saying it contained nothing he had not said before, both in public and in conversations with Mr Trump.