G7 summit opens in Canada with a focus on trade, wars — and not riling
Trump
[June 16, 2025]
By JOSH BOAK and ROB GILLIES
KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — When U.S. President Donald Trump last came to
Canada for a Group of Seven summit, the enduring image was of him seated
with his arms folded defiantly as then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel
stared daggers at him.
If there is a shared mission at this year’s G7 summit, which begins
Monday in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, it is a desire to minimize any
fireworks at a moment of combustible tensions.
The 2018 summit ended with Trump assailing his Canadian hosts on social
media as he departed on Air Force One, saying he had instructed the U.S.
officials who remained in Quebec to oppose the G7 joint statement
endorsed by the leaders of Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Italy,
Germany and, of course, Canada.
“I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we
look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” Trump posted
on the site then known as Twitter.
This time, Trump already has hit several dozen nations with severe
tariffs that risk a global economic slowdown. There is little progress
on settling the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and now a new and escalating
conflict between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.
Add to all of that the problems of climate change, immigration, drug
trafficking, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and
China's continued manufacturing superiority and chokehold on key supply
chains.
Asked if he planned to announce any trade agreements at the G7 as he
left the White House on Sunday, Trump said: “We have our trade deals.
All we have to do is send a letter, ‘This is what you’re going to have
to pay.' But I think we'll have a few, few new trade deals."
At stake might be the survival of the G7 itself at a time when the Trump
administration has sent mixed signals about whether the president will
attend the November Group of 20 summit in South Africa.
What Trump opposed at the 2018 summit in Quebec wasn't just tariffs, but
a focus on having alliances with a shared set of standards seeking to
shape policies.
“The big dispute in Quebec were the references to the rules-based
international order and that’s where that famous photo comes from,” said
Peter Boehm, Canada’s counselor at the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec and a
veteran of six G7 summits. “I think it gave everyone the idea that G7s
were maybe not business as usual.”
The German, U.K., Japanese and Italian governments have each signaled a
belief that a friendly relationship with Trump this year can reduce the
likelihood of outbursts.
“Well, I have got a good relationship with President Trump, and that’s
important," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday as he flew to
Canada.
There is no plan for a joint statement this year from the G7, a sign
that the Trump administration sees no need to build a shared consensus
with fellow democracies if it views such a statement as contrary to its
goals of new tariffs, more fossil fuel production and a Europe that is
less dependent on the U.S. military.
“The Trump administration almost certainly believes that no deal is
better than a bad deal,” said Caitlin Welsh, a director at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies think tank who was part of
Trump's team for the G7 in Trump's first term.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, meets with German
Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of the G7 Summit at the Pomeroy
Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) west of
Calgary, in Kananaskis, Alberta, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The
Canadian Press via AP)
The White House has stayed decidedly mum about its goals for the G7,
which originated as a 1973 finance ministers' meeting to address the
oil crisis and steadily evolved into a yearly summit that is meant
to foster personal relationships among world leaders and address
global problems.
The G7 even briefly expanded to the G8 with Russia as a member, only
for Russia to be expelled in 2014 after annexing Crimea and taking a
foothold in Ukraine that preceded its aggressive 2022 invasion of
that nation.
Trump will have at least three scheduled bilateral meetings during
the summit with other world leaders while in Canada, staring on
Monday morning with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The U.S.
president is also expected to have bilateral meetings with Mexican
President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy, according to an administration official.
The U.S. president has imposed 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and
autos, all of which have disproportionately hit Japan. Trump is also
charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could
raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by
him would expire.
The United Kingdom reached a trade framework with the U.S. that
included quotas to protect against some tariffs, but the 10%
baseline would remain as the Trump administration is banking on
tariff revenues to help cover the cost of its income tax cuts.
Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump
put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling,
through some products are still protected under the 2020
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump's first term.
The Trump administration has insisted that its broad tariffs will
produce trade agreements that box out China, though it's unclear how
antagonizing trade partners would make them want to strengthen their
reliance on the U.S. Carney, the Canadian leader, has been outspoken
in saying his country can no longer look to the U.S. as an enduring
friend.
That might leave Trump with the awkward task of wanting to keep his
tariffs in place while also trying to convince other countries that
they're better off siding with the U.S. than China.
“Trump will try to coordinate the group against China’s economic
coercion,” Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the
Atlantic Council, wrote in an analysis. “But the rest of the leaders
may turn back to Trump and say that this kind of coordination, which
is at the heart of why the G7 works, would be easier if he weren’t
imposing tariffs on his allies.”
___
Boak reported from Calgary, Alberta. Associated Press writer Jill
Lawless contributed to this report.
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