LA MALBAIE, Quebec (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump countered a slew of trade numbers from U.S. allies with his own, different data, holding firm to his position that the United States was at a disadvantage, an official at a G7 summit said on Friday as consensus eluded the group’s leaders.
Friday’s trade session, where G7 allies planned to confront the U.S. president over trade tariffs, had “some emotions” but was civilized and diplomatic, said the official who followed the talks.
“The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his. As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S. trading partners are furious over Trump’s decision last week to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico as part of his “America First” agenda. Some have retaliated.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday floated an idea to set up a way to resolve trade disputes between the United States and its allies, a French official said.
The official described Merkel’s suggestion as a “shared assessment and dialogue” mechanism, but gave no further details.
The proposal, made during the two-day Group of Seven nations summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, was strongly supported by other leaders present, the official said, adding that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was ready to invest personally in it. Juncker has also offered to visit Washington for a common assessment of EU-US trade to help resolve the dispute, an official said.
Expectations for a breakthrough at the summit, however, are low, with U.S. allies focused on avoiding rupturing the G7, which in its 42-year history has tended to seek consensus
