President Trump fired an opening salvo over trade policy Thursday at Canadian and French leaders Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron ahead of Friday’s G-7 meetings in Canada.
Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2018
“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” wrote Trump. “The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”
President Trump’s trade rhetoric is expected to be a sore spot at the Ottawa, Canada summit.
During a “Meet the Press” interview last weekend, Trudeau insisted that his American counterpart can’t use national security concerns to justify tariffs on Canadian steel. (RELATED: Trudeau Says It’s ‘Insulting And Unacceptable’ For Trump To Deem Canada A Security Risk)
“The idea that we are somehow a national security threat to the United States is quite frankly insulting and unacceptable,” said the Canadian prime minister, calling the contention an offense to “our soldiers who fought and died together on the beaches of World War II and the mountains of Afghanistan and have stood shoulder to shoulder in some of the most difficult places in the world.”
“The six countries of the G7 without the United States, are a bigger market taken together than the American market,” said Macron during a joint press conference.
“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be,” Macron tweeted, according to The Hill. “Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force.”
Last month, President Trump enacted aluminum and steel tariffs on Mexico, Canada and the European Union.