G7 summit ends in acrimony, criticism

Leaders trade barbs after 'false statements' claim

The G7 summit ended in disarray as the US President Donald Trump pulled out of a joint statement while accusing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of making "false statements".

Just minutes after a joint communique was published in the Canadian city of Quebec, Trump post two tweets abruptly rejecting the statement and criticizing the host.

"Based on Justin's false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!" Trump tweeted.

"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,'" Trump tweeted from aboard Air Force One while en route to Singapore for the upcoming meeting with the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un.

In response to Trump's tweets, Trudeau's office said that the Canadian prime minister has been consistent with Trump both in public and private conversations.

"We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the summit. The prime minister said nothing he hasn't said before－both in public, and in private conversations with the president," Trudeau's office said on Twitter.

Cui Hongjian, head of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said Trump's attack on the leader of the US neighbor and ally was unprecedented but not a surprise as the US has faced a "group attack" from the other six members in the G7 on issues including trade, the Iran nuclear deal and the relocation of the US embassy in Israel.

The US and the Europe are on the brink of a trade war after months of negotiations failed to reach a conclusion, Cui said. The G7 summit used to be a stage to showcase the unification and central role of the western world, but this year it display divergence rather than unity as the plan by the other six countries to put pressure on the US failed.

The G7 summit came after the Trump administration decided last week to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, which has drawn strong opposition from the domestic business community and quick retaliation from major US trading partners.

"This is the first time the US government is seen as truly acting in bad faith, in treating allies as a threat, in treating trade as negative and fundamentally undermining the system that it built," said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

This US administration feels unbound by previous US commitments in a way that no other administration has ever felt, Posen noted in an Associated Press report.

Speaking on Saturday during a news conference, Trump reiterated his long-standing view that the US has been taken advantage of in global trade, adding: "We're like the piggy bank that everybody's robbing, and that ends."

Trump cited progress on reaching an agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, saying the final outcome would lead either to an improved trade deal or separate pacts with the two US neighbors. Trump said he was discussing two types of sunset provisions in which any of the countries could leave the deal.

But Trudeau objected strenuously to a sunset clause of any length. "If you put an expiry date on any trade deal, that's not a trade deal. That's our unequivocal position," he said.