Trump, Trudeau swap jokes but hold firm in trade dispute

The United States and Canada have swung sharply towards a diplomatic and trade crisis as top White House advisers lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a day after US President Donald Trump called him “very dishonest and weak”.

Noting the USA imposition of tariffs was officially stated as a national security consideration, Freeland said: “We are very clear that Canada does not pose a national security threat to the United States”.

Canadian tariffs were in place long before the summit and did not prevent Trump from initially endorsing the G-7 statement on trade.

“I think she is outlining Canada’s actual position and is outlining actual steps that have been taken and are being taken”, he told Xinhua in an interview.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said Sunday that the rift between G7 members at the summit reflects the unpredictability in worldwide political arena, and he hoped the aftermath of the summit would be cleared up quickly.

Another stumbling block was the part regarding climate change, where the USA didn’t want to see any reference to the Paris Agreement, from which the Trump administration has withdrawn, The Star reported. “Nor has anybody else”.

Canada’s immediate priorities are making progress on a new North American Free Trade Agreement, getting the U.S.to drop its tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel and avoiding any fresh trade barriers, as Trump has threatened, said one official familiar with the Canada-U.

John McCain who responded with a very different message for USA allies: “Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t”.

The tweetstorm is the latest fallout from a bad-tempered G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, in which the President found himself at odds with numerous leaders present, largely over his planned tariffs on a range of goods, including steel and aluminum.

On Sunday’s CNN’s “State of the Union”, Kudlow called Trudeau’s criticism of us tariffs “non-factual”, adding that Canada had “enormous tariffs” on USA imports. May pointed out the importance of maintaining a dialogue with the United States and President Trump.

“And that’s what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference…that’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did, and that comes right from Air Force One”.

President Donald Trump with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 summit.

Senior U.S. policymakers such as House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan have raised concerns with the White House about fellow Republican Trump’s trade policies, most recently the decision to impose the steel and aluminum tariffs.

CNN’s John Berman noted that president wanted to appear tough ahead of his summit with Kim Jong Un, and asked if the move had “any strategic value”.

Joseph Yun, a former diplomat and North Korea expert, explained during a Monday morning CNN segment exactly how Donald Trump’s “Trudeau temper tantrum” at the Group of Seven summit is a breach of protocol the likes of which he’s never seen before.

Trudeau had said Canadians “are polite, we’re reasonable, but also we will not be pushed around”.

He also announced he was backing out of a joint communique on trade between the USA and its main allies.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a volley of tweets on Monday venting anger on some of Washington’s closest North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies over the United State’s trade deficit, following a divisive G7 meeting in Canada.

Paul Frazer, a former Canadian diplomat who is now a Washington consultant, said Ottawa’s measured response to the comments from what he called Trump’s “henchmen” struck the necessary tone. The G-7 also includes Britain, Italy, France, Germany and Japan.

“This week started with @realDonaldTrump boosting a Chinese company identified as a national security threat to the U.S. It ended with him standing up for Russian Federation and alienating our allies at the G7”.