U.S.-Canada row escalates after tense G7, Europeans criticise Trump

[webfact]

U.S.-Canada row escalates after tense G7, Europeans criticise Trump

By Andrea Hopkins and David Ljunggren

 

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) meets with U.S. President Donald Trump during the G7 Summit in the Charlevoix town of La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. Photo taken June 8, 2018. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

 

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec (Reuters) - The United States and Canada swung sharply towards a diplomatic and trade crisis on Sunday as top White House advisers lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a day after U.S. President Trump called him "very dishonest and weak."

 

The spat drew in Germany and France, who sharply criticised Trump's decision to abruptly withdraw his support for a Group of Seven communique hammered out at a Canadian summit on Saturday, accusing him of destroying trust and acting inconsistently.

 

"Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks ... and we refrain particularly from ad hominem attacks when it comes to a close ally," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Sunday.

 

Freeland reiterated Canada will retaliate to U.S. tariffs in a measured and reciprocal way, adding Canada will always be willing to talk.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow accused Trudeau of betraying Trump with "polarizing" statements on trade policy that risked making the U.S. leader look weak ahead of a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

 

Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday for the summit that could lay the groundwork for ending a nuclear stand-off between the old foes.

 

"(Trudeau) really kind of stabbed us in the back," Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council who had accompanied Trump to Canada, said on CNN's "State of the Union."

 

Trade adviser Peter Navarro told "Fox News Sunday" that "there is a special place in hell for any leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy" with Trump.

 

Trudeau, in Quebec City for bilateral meetings with non-G7 leaders after the summit, did not comment as he arrived.

 

Trudeau got direct personal support from some European leaders.

 

British Prime Minister Theresa May "is fully supportive" of Trudeau and his leadership, a senior UK government source said, while European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "There is a special place in heaven for @JustinTrudeau."

 

Freeland, asked about support from allies, said: "The position of our European allies, including Japan, is the same as ours. We coordinated very closely with the European Union, with Mexico, on our list of retaliatory measures and actions."

 

Europe will implement counter-measures against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium just like Canada, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, voicing regret about Trump's decision to withdraw support for the communique.

 

Trudeau's office said he had not said anything in his closing G7 news conference he has not said to Trump before.

 

The majority of Canadian exports go to the United States, making Canada uniquely vulnerable to a U.S. trade war.

 

Canadian officials, including Trudeau, have fanned across America as part of a months-long charm offensive to appeal to pro-trade Republicans at every level. But even those vested in Canadian trade are not expected to come to Trudeau's defence as long as the U.S. economy is roaring.

 

"I think the pushback by Congress is going to come up incredibly short," Chris Barron, a pro-Trump Republican strategist, said of Republican efforts to rein in Trump.

 

'GREAT CONCERN FOR G7'

Trump's backing out of the joint communique torpedoed what appeared to be a fragile consensus on a trade dispute between Washington and its top allies.

 

"The G7 was a forum for friends – democracies with the same value system – to discuss issues of common interest. Now there is a question mark over that. But it did not start with this G7, but with the election of Donald Trump," said a European official.

 

Trump also said he might double down on import tariffs by hitting the sensitive auto industry, throwing the G7's efforts to show a united front into disarray.

 

"In a matter of seconds, you can destroy trust with 280 Twitter characters," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said when asked about Trump's U-turn.

 

France is also standing by the G7 communique, a French presidency official said.

 

Trump has infuriated the European Union, Canada and Mexico by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

 

"This is of great concern to the G7. I do not know where we go from here. It is impossible to predict what Trump will do next," said a senior G7 official on the summit outcome.

 

"The world as we know it, namely the U.S.-led rules-based multilateralism, is now in serious danger of unravelling, as illustrated at the G7 meeting," said Erik Nielsen, chief economist at Unicredit Bank.

 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who met with Trudeau on Sunday, said it was time for G20 nations to play a role and to "also bring about some good sense to all the key players."

 

"The G20 helpfully has more countries that have a stake in the economy of the world, including the G7," he told Reuters.

 

Canada's Freeland, who met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday, said she would speak to him later on Sunday, adding that she believes a deal to renew the North American Free Trade Agreement is still possible.

 

"We are convinced that a modernisation is perfectly possible, we are convinced that common sense will triumph," she said.

 

(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Roberta Rampton in Quebec City, Doina Chiacu and Sarah Lynch in Washington, Michael Nienaber in Berlin, William James in London and Emmanuel Jarry and Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Writing by Amran Abocar; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-11

[roobaa01]

canada, japan, italy, the uk will all heel to mr. d. trump demands for they depend on the us market, 55555. hence lame duck merkel will be left in the dark with mummy snatcher macron, leading to their political abdication.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[VocalNeal]

UK imports/exports from/to US are about even so no real issue there.

[roobaa01]

oh, for example 14.5 % of all uk car exports went to the us in 2016 how insignificant.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[mok199]

Trumps just mad because Justin has a trendy name and cool socks...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

"The world as we know it, namely the U.S.-led rules-based multilateralism, is now in serious danger of unravelling, as illustrated at the G7 meeting," said Erik Nielsen, chief economist at Unicredit Bank.

 

Russia and China are gleefully laughing at the West, and thanking Trump every day for throwing the western democracies coalition into disarray and division.

 

It means more power and a freer hand internationally for Russia and China, and isolates the U.S. and weakens its ties and relationships with other democracies. None of that is good for the world, unless you're a dictator somewhere.

 

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, roobaa01 said:

canada, japan, italy, the uk will all heel to mr. d. trump demands for they depend on the us market, 55555. hence lame duck merkel will be left in the dark with mummy snatcher macron, leading to their political abdication.

 

wbr

roobaa01

Utter nonsense. USA will be kicked out of G7. Good.

[roobaa01]

@grouse present facts and not only statements w.o. back up.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[Briggsy]

Trump deliberately creates chaos and polemics in order to

 

1. make sure he is front and centre of the day's headlines.

2. try to force others to defer to him.

3. distract from other negative stories and thus control the narrative.

 

He doesn't care if there are negative effects on people's jobs in Philadelphia or wherever.

 

He always does this. Remember the purple heart issue. It is the superficiality of reality tv guiding government policy.

The press need to get ahead of the issues and not just be led by the nose.

[mfd101]

44 minutes ago, Grouse said:

USA will be kicked out of G7. Good.

Yes, same tactic as the 11 or 12 Pacific countries used when DT opted Usofa out of the TPP: Just shrugged their shoulders & carried on with the treaty anyway, leaving DT to hint publicly that he might be willing to consider thinking about joining, but only on Usofan terms. To which they replied with another shrug & silence.

 

USexit: as with Brexit, 'Usofa first' translates into Usofa alone & even Usofa last. This can only get worse as the Chinese grow from strength to strength and keep improving on their island-hopping games.

 

There is a sense in which this is all positive, because it forces everyone to rethink their positions and decide on what's really important and what isn't. But it's hard not to think that DT is living in an increasingly remote past where Usofa was the only power that mattered. Given Usofa's internal problems of all kinds (political, economic, social), its steady loss of international cultural (soft) power, and its increasingly unreliable posture internationally, those days are gone forever.

[Roadman]

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

Yes, same tactic as the 11 or 12 Pacific countries used when DT opted Usofa out of the TPP: Just shrugged their shoulders & carried on with the treaty anyway, leaving DT to hint publicly that he might be willing to consider thinking about joining, but only on Usofan terms. To which they replied with another shrug & silence.

 

USexit: as with Brexit, 'Usofa first' translates into Usofa alone & even Usofa last. This can only get worse as the Chinese grow from strength to strength and keep improving on their island-hopping games.

 

There is a sense in which this is all positive, because it forces everyone to rethink their positions and decide on what's really important and what isn't. But it's hard not to think that DT is living in an increasingly remote past where Usofa was the only power that mattered. Given Usofa's internal problems of all kinds (political, economic, social), its steady loss of international cultural (soft) power, and its increasingly unreliable posture internationally, those days are gone forever.

I would no say gone forever but they are heading down the dunny bowl big time

[mfd101]

6 minutes ago, Roadman said:

I would no say gone forever

Meaning, I assume, that post-Trump Usofa will recover.

 

Yes, to some extent, but some things [eg weakening of Nato & weakening of NW Pacific alliance] are unlikely to recover. Once you've lost trust/credibility on security matters, it's very hard to recover from that. And Usofan power, both hard & soft, has been steadily diminishing RELATIVE to a rising China for 2 decades now. I expect that will continue no matter who's in the WH, although China does have its own economic, political, social & ethnic fragilities which we may see a lot of in future ...

 

And Usofan domestic problems long precede Trump [educational & economic - very large numbers of Usofans unable to participate in the post-industrial economy; political/ideological roadblocks to reform ...]. Trump undoubtedly makes them worse but they won't go away when his time is up.

[spidermike007]

Kudlow, when uttering the ridiculous phrase that Canada stabbed us in the back, shows not only his ignorance with regard to the facts, but also the same super thin, saran wrap skin, that his Master has. Real men have thick skin. Real men can take a jibe, or an insult. Water off a ducks back. Remember, this is the clown who cancelled perhaps the most important summit in the past decade or two, because North Korea called Pence a name. What can one even say? Is this diplomacy? Is there a single statesman in the administration? 

 

Now these goons are throwing fake religion into the mix?

 

Trade adviser Peter Navarro told "Fox News Sunday" that "there is a special place in hell for any leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy" with Trump.

 

If Trump can be described as anything at all, it would be Mr. Bad Faith. He never means what he says, and lies about everything. 

 

What can one even say? Tiny Don is playing a very dangerous game. I do believe he is the most dangerous man in the world, at this point in time. Even more dangerous than his boyfriend King Vlad. He could end up getting the kind of isolationism he so desperately wants. Except it could be his undoing. The economy could collapse.

 

No matter how you look at it, the trade tariffs Trump is imposing, are a tax hike on the American people. 

Edited June 11, 2018 by spidermike007

[kamahele]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Kudlow, when uttering the ridiculous phrase that Canada stabbed us in the back, shows not only his ignorance with regard to the facts, but also the same super thin, saran wrap skin, that his Master has. Real men have thick skin. Real men can take a jibe, or an insult. Water off a ducks back. Remember, this is the clown who cancelled perhaps the most important summit in the past decade or two, because North Korea called Pence a name. What can one even say? Is this diplomacy? Is there a single statesman in the administration? 

 

Now these goons are throwing fake religion into the mix?

 

Trade adviser Peter Navarro told "Fox News Sunday" that "there is a special place in hell for any leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy" with Trump.

 

If Trump can be described as anything at all, it would be Mr. Bad Faith. He never means what he says, and lies about everything. 

 

What can one even say? Tiny Don is playing a very dangerous game. I do believe he is the most dangerous man in the world, at this point in time. Even more dangerous than his boyfriend King Vlad. He could end up getting the kind of isolationism he so desperately wants. Except it could be his undoing. The economy could collapse.

 

No matter how you look at it, the trade tariffs Trump is imposing, are a tax hike on the American people. 

I truly believe that Kudlow was putting on a show for Trump's benefit and doesn't believe a word that came out of his own mouth. He earned his acting chops yesterday for sure but hurt the U.S. in return.

[phantomfiddler]

Let,s face it, trudeau is a total dork, especially after giving an isis terrorist 10.5 million dollars. Trump calls it as it is !

[DM07]

"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
Alfred Pennyworth in Batman- The Dark Knight

 

I might ad: as long as they are in the center of attention, that their fragile ego needs!
 

[CanuckThai]

Trumps latest verbal diarrhea may have a subtle but very serious effect on Trudeau's longevity as Canadian PM.  Trudeau's Liberal Party not only lost a provincial election, it is the largest province in Canada (Ontario, +/- 38% of the population of Canada).  They did so poorly in the election,  they lost official political party status for not holding (winning) enough seats.  

 

 

[Jonnapat]

6 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

canada, japan, italy, the uk will all heel to mr. d. trump demands for they depend on the us market, 55555. hence lame duck merkel will be left in the dark with mummy snatcher macron, leading to their political abdication.

 

wbr

roobaa01

Are you taking something?

[ChidlomDweller]

9 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

Are you taking something?

And he's attacking others for not being factual enough! ?

[mfd101]

I think reasonable people might agree that (1) Trudeau is a dork & a lightweight, and (2) Trump is a vile & disgusting human being who might nevertheless, despite himself, produce a few good outcomes simply by destroying the various status quos (economic & strategic).

 

On the other hand, George W Bush tried that in the Middle East - let's throw all the pieces up in the air & see where they come down - and that didn't turn out too good.

[ChidlomDweller]

1 hour ago, DM07 said:

"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
Alfred Pennyworth in Batman- The Dark Knight

 

I might ad: as long as they are in the center of attention, that their fragile ego needs!
 

I think it's also a lot of posturing towards his anti-elistist base, in the knowledge (probably right) there won't be any payback from Canada.  Makes him look strong, while deflecting attention from his failure to deliver on campaign promises to go after China.  That was one of the few things I agreed with him on during the election campaign, but Xi has played him like a piano.  Don = Xi's bitch.  

[ChidlomDweller]

13 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

I think reasonable people might agree that (1) Trudeau is a dork & a lightweight, and (2) Trump is a vile & disgusting human being who might nevertheless, despite himself, produce a few good outcomes simply by destroying the various status quos (economic & strategic).

 

On the other hand, George W Bush tried that in the Middle East - let's throw all the pieces up in the air & see where they come down - and that didn't turn out too good.

Couldn't agree more with the second paragraph.  It's so damn immature.  The fact is, there's never been a better time in history to be alive, and these people are too ignorant and emotion-led to see it.  I too get angry at certain ways the world is run now (for instance, I was very in favor of Occupy Wall Street), but be realistic and admit to the many good things of the current world order as well.  What's more, he portrays himself as a populist, but if he manages to smash all institutions to pieces, who's going to be in the best position to capitalize on that, the rich or the masses?

Edited June 11, 2018 by ChidlomDweller

[Thingamabob]

Trudeau is utterly pathetic. Canada can surely do better than this.  Don't chicken out of making your point face to face only to run to the media after the event.

[DukSiam1]

Thingamabob...do your research. It has been reported on several fronts that Trudeau did express the same views face to face with Trump.

On another front, it's been suggested Trump ordered elevated shoes to meet with Kim. Anyone heard more of this.

Also Trump claims he is 6'3" tall and Trudeau claims he's 6'1" tall. If true, why does Trump appear to be a couple of inches shorter than Trudeau when they stand together?

(The above is expressed with my tongue firmly pressed in my cheek.   sort of)

[OJAS]

How soon, I wonder, before Trump announces that a wall will be built on the USA's northern border plus another one on the Alaskan border, both to be paid for by Canada??

Edited June 11, 2018 by OJAS

[JulesMad]

2 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Let,s face it, trudeau is a total dork, especially after giving an isis terrorist 10.5 million dollars. Trump calls it as it is !

I do NOT believe 1 word of your statement! Please prove it....

If you are unable to prove it, you have just proved to yourself and the world that you are 1 of these incredible stupid trumpy sheep, that believe any stupid twitter that comes out of the Orange Turd's mouth!

Trudeau is at least a man with morals and honor, and not a complete lying hypocrite pussy-grabbing president.

[Oziex1]

7 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Trump deliberately creates chaos and polemics in order to

 

1. make sure he is front and centre of the day's headlines.

2. try to force others to defer to him.

3. distract from other negative stories and thus control the narrative.

 

He doesn't care if there are negative effects on people's jobs in Philadelphia or wherever.

 

He always does this. Remember the purple heart issue. It is the superficiality of reality tv guiding government policy.

The press need to get ahead of the issues and not just be led by the nose.

Excellent comment, in the age of reality TV. This is what we have become.

[MrMuddle]

Trump is the President that the US deserves. He is making them look exactly what they are. I hope Kim kicks his behind all the way back to Washington.

[Andaman Al]

8 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

canada, japan, italy, the uk will all heel to mr. d. trump demands for they depend on the us market, 55555. hence lame duck merkel will be left in the dark with mummy snatcher macron, leading to their political abdication.

 

wbr

roobaa01

 The age difference between Macron and his wife is 24 years.

 

The age difference between Trump and his wife is 24 years.

 

Are you saying that one is acceptable and the other is not?

 

Oh by the way the age difference between Trump and the 13 year old girl he raped was 40 years. 

 

Now what is your point exactly?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, ChidlomDweller said:

I think it's also a lot of posturing towards his anti-elistist base, in the knowledge (probably right) there won't be any payback from Canada.  Makes him look strong, while deflecting attention from his failure to deliver on campaign promises to go after China.  That was one of the few things I agreed with him on during the election campaign, but Xi has played him like a piano.  Don = Xi's bitch.  

 

 And at the same time Trump is slapping around Canada and feuding with the other western allies, he's also back at the White House letting Chinese phone maker ZTE off the hook, erasing a total ban imposed by his own administration on ZTE doing business with U.S. suppliers that effectively would have put ZTE out of business.

 

This being the ZTE that has repeatedly violated, and admitted violating, U.S. law by selling prohibited technology to rogue states like North Korea and Iran, and is considered by U.S. intelligence agencies to be a potential threat to U.S. technology infrastructure because of providing potential insecure or compromised hardware.

 

ZTE, a repeat violator of U.S. law and in league with the Chinese govt., Trump is OK with. But Canada, one of the U.S. closest allies, they're obviously the worst and deserve berating in Trump's book. The man is either intentionally trying to sabotage U.S. national interests or he's so far deluded as to have totally lost any clue.

 

PS -- don't forget, = Putin's too.

 

Edited June 11, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK