German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left), US President Donald Trump (second, left), and French President Emmanuel Macron participate in a working session of the G7 Summit, on June 8, 2018.

LA MALBAIE, Quebec (REUTERS) – The United States and European Union will establish a dialogue on trade within the next two weeks, a French official said on Friday (June 8), signalling a modest step forward for bitterly divided allies at a Group of Seven summit in Canada.

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US trading partners have been furious over President Donald Trump’s decision last week toimpose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico as part of his “America First” agenda. Some countries have retaliated with their own levies on US imports.





Macron said it was possible to advance the trade issues that have split the US and its allies.


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. An official described Merkel’s suggestion as a”shared assessment and dialogue” mechanism, but gave no further details. It was unclear if the technical talks were part of her initiative.


Expectations for a major breakthrough on trade at the summit, however, remain low, with US allies focused on avoiding rupturing the G-7, which in its 42-year history has tended to seek consensus on major issues.

“It’s highly unlikely there will be a final communique,” a G-7 official said on condition of anonymity.


Trump had set a combative tone before leaving Washington on Friday, saying he was “going to deal with the unfair trade practices” of other G-7 members.


“We’ve had really a very good relationship, very special,” the US president said of Macron, a day after the two leaders had exchanged terse messages on Twitter. “We have little tests every once in a while when it comes to trade.”






Canada and the EU have denounced the US tariffs and Ottawa has proposed levies on a range of US goods next month while the EU has pledged its own retaliatory measures.





Canada and Mexico, the other members of the 1994 pact, have been frustrated by the slow pace of talks to renegotiate NAFTA. A Canadian official said Trump and Trudeau discussed accelerating NAFTA talks.


Relations with Russia also became an issue at the summit after Trump on Friday said the country should be allowed to again attend meetings with the G-7, an idea that did not gain much traction at the meeting and was not formally raised.


