War of words erupts between United States and G7 allies

President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, on Sunday charged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the “betrayal” of Trump and other leaders of the Group of Seven industrial nations following their summit in Quebec.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ill-fated press conference, where he vowed to retaliate to the tariffs imposed by the USA on steel and aluminum, seems to have opened a can of worms, as less than 24 hours before his historic meeting with Kim Jong Un, the U.S. leader continues to be preoccupied with imbalances in trade and “dishonest” Trudeau. That tweet was followed a second message: “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak”.

Less than 24 hours before his meeting with Kim, Trump found time to lambast what he sees as unfair trade practices among the other six industrialized democracies at the summit.

Trump pulled out of endorsing a joint communique after the G7 meet finished on Saturday with the United States president accusing Trudeau, the summit’s chairman, of dishonesty.

“Let’s be serious and worthy of our people”.

Trump was reacting to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said Saturday that Canada would retaliate for Trump’s proposed new tariffs.

Trudeau said Saturday during a news conference that Canada will “move forward with retaliatory measures” on July 1 in response to the Trump administration’s decision to impose the steel and aluminum tariffs.

United States trade advisor Peter Navarro, speaking on Fox News Sunday, reinforced that message.

But his foreign minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that if anyone should be insulted, it was Canada, because Mr Trump had cited a national security justification for his tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Navarro was referring to the prime minister’s announcing after the Group of Seven meeting Saturday that Canada will “not be pushed around” by the USA with its decision to slap tariffs on some imports from Canada and other countries.

France is also standing by the G7 communique, a French presidency official said, adding anyone departing from the commitments made at the summit would be showing their “incoherence and inconsistency”.

“We have to keep a cool head now and draw the right conclusions”, Maas said. “As Canadians, we are polite, we’re reasonable, but also we will not be pushed around”.

Top European Union official Donald Tusk also took a jab at the officials.

He told Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong: ‘We’ve got a very interesting meeting in particular tomorrow, and I think things can work out very nicely’.

In a news conference after the summit, Mr Trudeau had said that while he did not want to “punish American workers”, his job was to protect Canadians and as such he would press ahead with tariffs on some U.S. imports.

“After many decades, fair and reciprocal Trade will happen!”

On Saturday, Trump criticized the Canadian leader after Trudeau announced that all G-7 nations at the summit over the weekend signed onto a joint communique.