Leaders of the Group of Seven are arriving for a working meeting focused on looming threats to the global economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of the other G-7 countries, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada as well as the European Union were expected to discuss the spread of trade disputes, notably the U.S. trade war with China.

Sunday's gathering in the French seaside resort of Biarritz comes on the heels of the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hoping for a quick trade accord with the United States as Britain's exit from the European Union approaches. </s> Mounted police officers patrol along the beach, with the G7 venue Bellevue in background, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019 in Biarritz. Leaders of the Group of Seven countries arrive on Saturday to discuss issues including the struggling global economy and climate change until Monday. They include the United States, Germany, Japan, Britain, France, Canada and Italy. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

BIARRITZ, France (AP) — Leaders of major world economies are meeting to discuss the shaky world economy amid trade disputes and uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies.

Trump tried to play down tensions among Group of Seven leaders after they had dinner Saturday in the southwest French resort of Biarritz. He is worried that the global economic slowdown is spreading to the U.S. before next year’s elections.

The G-7 leaders are meeting Sunday morning to focus on what they can do together to boost the economy. They include the heads of Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy.

Disputes on trade have unsettled the global economy because businesses don’t know where tariffs will be imposed.

Anti-capitalist protesters also plan demonstrations Sunday after clashing with police near Biarritz on the summit’s opening day Saturday. </s> The United States and European Union will establish a dialogue on trade within the next two weeks, a French official said on Friday, signaling a modest step forward for bitterly divided allies at a Group of Seven summit in Canada.

The United States and European Union will establish a dialogue on trade within the next two weeks, a French official said on Friday, signaling a modest step forward for bitterly divided allies at a Group of Seven summit in Canada.

No breakthrough at G7 summit - but US and EU take small step on trade

U.S. trading partners have been furious over President Donald Trump's decision last week to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico as part of his "America First" agenda. Some countries have retaliated with their own levies on U.S. imports.

"The principle of a dialogue was agreed this afternoon," the French official told reporters. "Everyone agreed, including President Trump." While G7 leaders confronted Trump with a slew of data on imports and exports in a bid to sway his thinking, Trump countered his own numbers and held his position that the United States was at a disadvantage on international trade, an official who followed the talks said.

But Trump struck a more affable tone after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, saying the French leader was helping work out trade issues. "Something's going to happen. I think it will be very positive," Trump said, without giving details.

Macron said it was possible to advance the trade issues that have split the U.S. and its allies. "I think, on trade, there is ... a way to progress all together," he told reporters after his meeting with Trump. "I saw the willingness on all the sides to find agreements and have a win-win approach for our people, our workers, and our middle classes."

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. The proposal was supported by other leaders present, the official said. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered to visit Washington for an assessment of EU-US trade to help resolve the dispute, an official said.

Merkel said it was not clear whether the group would issue a final directive, adding that failure to do so would be an honest reflection of the lack of agreement among Canada, the United States, Japan, Britain, Italy, France and Germany. The EU is also attending the summit. Trump had set a combative tone before leaving Washington on Friday, saying he was "going to deal with the unfair trade practices" of other G7 members.

But he was more affable after meeting Macron and Trudeau, swapping jokes with the latter before the media though neither budged on their trade positions. "We've had really a very good relationship, very special," the U.S. 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." Merkel and Trump also had a brief conversation at the summit but no bilateral meeting.

Trump’s "America First" message to allies has hardened since he brought hardline national security adviser John Bolton on to his team. Trump plans to leave the summit four hours earlier than originally planned to fly to Singapore to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said. G7 chiefs have largely praised Trump for his efforts to stabilize the Korean peninsula, but they are unhappy he pulled out of an international agreement to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Canada and the EU have denounced the U.S. tariffs and Ottawa has proposed levies on a range of U.S. goods next month while the EU has pledged its own retaliatory measures. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday warned both Trump and the EU of the dangers of entering a tit-for-tat trade war over tariffs, urging both sides to instead focus on China's excess steel production. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country "will not change its mind when it comes to the illegal" application of tariffs.

The spat has financial markets worried about tit-for-tit escalation. Investors are also concerned about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has threatened to terminate. 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 G7, an idea that did not gain much traction at the meeting and was not formally raised. Russia was suspended from group in 2014 because of its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Trump said Russia should be readmitted, but even Moscow seemed to reject that suggestion.

Merkel said EU countries at the summit agreed that the conditions to readmit Russia had not been met. Trump's presidency has been clouded by a federal investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and possible collusion by his campaign. Both Moscow and Trump have denied the allegations. </s> OTTAWA (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations headed for a summit in Canada on Thursday more divided than at any time in the group’s 42-year history, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies risk causing a global trade war and deep diplomatic schisms.

In a bid to rebuild America’s industry, Trump has imposed hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including those from key G7 allies like Canada, Japan and the European Union.

He has threatened to use national security laws to do the same for foreign car imports and has walked back on environmental agreements and an international deal to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has invested in a warm personal relationship with Trump, said that the other G7 nations should remain “polite” and productive but warned that “no leader is forever”, a sign that Europe would not surrender meekly to the U.S. president.

“Maybe the American president doesn’t care about being isolated today, but we don’t mind being six, if needs be,” Macron told reporters. “Because these six represent values, represent an economic market, and more than anything, represent a real force at the international level today,” he said.

Trump will come face-to-face at the gathering in Charlevoix, Quebec, with world leaders whose views do not chime with his on a range of issues from trade to the environment as well as Iran and the construction of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

Ahead of the summit, Trump signaled that he was in no mood to compromise at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has tried to cultivate a friendly relationship with the American president.

Trump raised the issue of U.S. car imports with Abe at a meeting in Washington and said he wanted more investment plants in the American industrial heartland of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Abe is not the only world leader to have tried charming Trump and failed to come away with concessions from the U.S. leader. Macron, who appeared to have built a warm relationship, said that the so-called “G6” leaders would not spark a fight at the summit.

“In this environment, above all we always have to stay polite, stay productive and try to convince (them), to keep the United States on board because they are our historical ally and we need them,” Macron told a news conference held with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa.

The U.S. president also has frosty relations with Trudeau, the summit host. Pleas by the other member countries for exemptions from the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, which went into effect on June 1, have fallen on deaf ears in Washington.

The Canadian leader is embroiled in rows with Washington over steel and aluminum and negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement where Trump’s negotiators have tried to bulldoze Canadian and Mexican objections to a modified pact.

Macron stressed however that the United States was no longer the sole economic superpower in the world and urged other industrialized countries to stick together.

His plea for unity may fall, even within the European Union. Germany has suggested making accommodations over trade with the United States for fear of triggering a ratcheting up of tensions over cars that would embroil companies like BMW and Mercedes.

Europe faces renewed domestic economic and political challenges in addition to those posed by Trump’s unilateralism.

One source with knowledge of the matter said that Italy wanted to “create as much space as possible to continue the dialogue with the U.S.”, noting that new Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte, a political novice, would be treading carefully in Canada because he “needs to see the dynamics of the group.”

Japan is also expected to take a less confrontational approach than its G7 peers, while still quietly pressing its case on trade.

Abe too has more at stake than tariffs and Trump reassured him that Washington would press Kim over the hundreds of Japanese citizens who have been kidnapped by North Korea. Japan has said it cannot normalize diplomatic relations without the issue being resolved.

Despite the lobbying and pleas, Trump has pressed ahead with tariffs as well as pulling out of the Paris climate accord. Intense diplomacy from Europe to save an international nuclear agreement with Iran also failed.

At the same time as taking on Europe and allies like Japan. Trump has told China, the world’s second largest economy, to cuts its massive trade surplus with the United States. Washington has also threatened tariffs on imports of Chinese goods unless Beijing stops stealing American companies’ intellectual property.

Economically too, Europe may have more to fear if Trump does go for auto tariffs.

Its recovery from the 2008-9 financial crisis has been far slower than that of the United States where the Federal Reserve is on the cusp of another rate rise while the European Central Bank is still using crisis-era measures.

Financial markets around the world were battered by Trump’s trade threats, although they have recovered somewhat, they are still vulnerable and Italy’s new government is also a risk. Trump may have less to fear than slow-growing Europe and Japan from a trade war in terms of economic losses if the “G6” pushes back on tariffs.

“This is unlikely to deter President Trump given the United States’ widening $570 billion trade deficit, particularly if he feels cornered,” said Olivier Desbarres of economic strategy consultancy 4X Global Research.

“This could in turn rattle equity markets and an already under pressure Mexican Peso and stymie any upward trend in the range-bound Canadian Dollar and recovering Euro.” </s> US president Donald Trump has hit out at the European Union and Canada as he departed Washington for the G7 summit in Canada, calling on Russia to be invited to rejoin the group of advanced industrisalised nations.

In extensive comments to journalists as he prepared to board Air Force One, Mr Trump said Russia – which was expelled from the group following its incursion into Ukraine in 2014 and annexation of Crimea – should be readmitted to the group.

“Russia should be in this meeting. Whether you like it or not and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run. They threw Russia out, they should let Russia back in,” he said in comments that are likely to infuriate America’s European allies, who took a strong stance against Russia over its annexation of Crimea.

The G7 meeting, which begins in the small village of Charlevoix on Friday, is likely to be dominated by trade issues, following Washington’s decision to impose steel and aluminium tariffs on imports and its ongoing efforts to renegotiate Nafta – the free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“All of these countries have been taking advantage of us. We have to straighten it out. We have massive trade deficits with almost every country,” Mr Trump said as he departed Washington.

His comments followed a series of early-morning tweets. “Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better!” Mr Trump tweeted on Friday.

This year’s annual G7 gathering takes place against a background of deteriorating relations between the United States and the other six members.

In a tweet on Thursday, French president Emanuel Macron said: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be. 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.”

“Please tell [Canadian] Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the US massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” the US president wrote. “The EU trade surplus with the US is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out.”

Among Mr Trump’s first engagements on arrival in Quebec is a bilateral meeting with the French president. Just last month the two spent two days together in Washington when the Donald and Melania Trump welcomed Mr Macron and his wife, Brigitte, on an official state visit.

Washington’s decision not to extend a waiver that had been granted to the EU, Canada and Mexico on steel and aluminium imports on June 1st, has annoyed European allies, who have threatened reciprocal measures.

Mr Trump is expected to leave the summit early, raising speculation that he may not sign the joint communique that is typically the most immediate and material outcomes of global summits.

He will fly directly from Canada to Singapore for next Tuesday’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The US president also told reporters that he was considering pardons for 3,000 people, including Muhammed Ali. It follows his decision this week to commute the life sentence of Alice Johnson, a grandmother who was convicted of a drugs offence in 1996, following an intervention by celebrity Kim Kardashian West. </s> PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron wants an August summit of the Group of Seven advanced economies to take concrete initiatives on climate change despite divergences with the United States on the issue.

Macron said that President Donald Trump's presence at the G-7 summit of Biarritz, in southwestern France, is not being questioned. Macron was speaking Friday at a news conference in Paris alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Macron said the summit also aims at easing tensions on world trade, stressing the importance to "understand where our differences lie" and "how we can overcome them."

Last year, Trump roiled the G-7 meeting in Canada by first agreeing to a statement on trade before withdrawing from it while complaining that he had been blindsided by Trudeau's criticism of tariff threats. </s> LA MALBAIE, Quebec (AP) — President Donald Trump charged into the Group of Seven summit at odds with key allies over U.S. tariffs, then set out to defuse tension with friendly banter and offered vague claims of progress in trade talks. But details were scant and clear differences remained at the summit's midpoint.

After days of verbal sparring over new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Trump joined the leaders of major industrialized nations in an idyllic Canadian resort town. On his way to the annual gathering, Trump laid out his fundamental grievance, saying that other countries "have been taking advantage of the United States on trade."

He injected additional controversy by suggesting that the G-7 offer a seat at the table to Russia, which was ousted from the group after it annexed Crimea.

On Saturday, Trump attended a breakfast focused on gender equality, arriving after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened the session. He planned to leave Canada several hours early, heading to Singapore for his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, missing G-7 sessions on climate change, clean energy and ocean protection.

Trump's recent moves, building on 18 months of nationalist policy-making, leave him out of step with the globally-minded organization and have prompted speculation that the group could fracture into something more like the "G-6 plus one."

But in meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump stressed his friendships with the allies while continuing to insist he wanted to see changes on trade.

Trump bantered easily with Trudeau, joking that the neighboring leader had "agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers." And he emphasized a "good relationship" with Macron, saying they sometimes have a "little test" on trade, but predicting a positive outcome.

Still, the fundamental differences remained clear. Trump again railed against trade deficits with other countries and repeated that he may pursue separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, while Canada would prefer to renegotiate the three-way deal

Asked if Trudeau was upset that Trump would be leaving the summit in Canada early on Saturday, Trump joked, "He's happy."

Macron said he and Trump held "open and direct" discussions, adding that he thought there was a way to get a "win-win" outcome on trade, though details remained unclear.

Both sides suggested some progress in NAFTA talks. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they were "close to a deal," but added that there was also discussion of shifting to a bilateral deal. A Canadian official said the leaders discussed accelerating the pace of the talks.

Trump spent Friday participating in the rituals of the G-7, including the formal greeting by host Trudeau, a group photo in front of the sparkling St. Lawrence River and a working lunch of Arctic char and buckwheat salad.

Other members of the Group of Seven are Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain. The European Union also attends.

Trump's relations with the others have hit such a low point that a key question was whether the seven countries can agree on a joint statement of priorities at the conclusion of the meeting. Macron said Thursday on Twitter, "The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be."

Trump said Friday he thinks the group will produce a joint statement.

Before arriving at the Quebec summit, Trump injected fresh drama by asking why Russia wasn't included in the group.

"They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table," he said.

Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. In the U.S., special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the issue "hasn't been raised around the G-7 table," though she said there have been "some direct conversations in bilateral meetings." She added "there are no grounds whatsoever for bringing Russia with its current behavior back into the G-7."

In Paris, Macron's office said such a move wouldn't make sense and pointed out that the latest country to impose economic sanctions on Russia was the U.S. Italy's new premier, Giuseppe Conte, tweeted that he agreed with Trump, saying: "Russia should go back into the G-8. In the interest of all."

Russia seemed unconcerned. State news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, "We are putting the emphasis on other formats."

Over the course of his presidency, Trump has inflamed allies with his isolationist policies, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and the international Iran-nuclear agreement.

"The rules-based international order is being challenged, not by the usual suspects but by its main architect and guarantor: the United States," said European Council President Donald Tusk.

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville in Washington, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report. </s> French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear Thursday they would not be intimidated by U.S. President Donald Trump and said the other leaders of G7 nations must not be afraid to reach agreements without the U.S. at their upcoming summit.

Macron and Trudeau made the comments at a joint press conference after private talks to form a united front ahead of the Group of Seven summit that begins Friday.

While both Macron and Trudeau have forged cordial relationships with Trump, they made it clear they would not be intimidated by the U.S. leader -- especially in the face of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico.

"The G7 is an opportunity for us to get together and have frank, open discussions among nations who have long been allies and friends," Macron told reporters, with Trudeau at his side.

"There will be subjects on which the (U.S.) president is not totally in sync with the others -- I'm thinking of course of climate change and trade," the French leader said.

"Our common goal is to try to find a text that can be signed by everyone. (...) That said, I agree with what Justin Trudeau has said many times -- the desire to sign a common G7 declaration must not outweigh the need to be mindful of the content," he explained.

"We Europeans and the Japanese are not ready to give up everything to get" Trump's signature, he said, adding that would be a "mistake."

Trudeau heaped scorn on Donald Trump's national security justification for the new metal tariffs.

"It is laughable to say that Canada, France... can represent a threat to America's national security, as we are the best allies that the US has had for a long time," Trudeau said.

He and Macron also noted that the tariffs would hurt American workers.

The leaders will join Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and new Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Quebec for talks on Friday and Saturday. </s> CANADIAN FORCES BASE BAGOTVILLE, Quebec, June 7 (Reuters) - B ritish Prime Minister Theresa May will not hold a formal bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump during the G7 summit, but she will have meetings with each of the other leaders attending the summit, May’s officials said on Thursday.

The summit on Friday and Saturday in Charlevoix, Quebec, will be the first chance that G7 leaders will have to confront Trump in person since he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union last week.

After details of May’s current schedule for the trip were distributed to journalists travelling with her to Canada, officials confirmed that no formal bilateral with Trump was expected. They did not rule out a one-to-one meeting in a different format.

May signalled that Britain wanted the European Union to use restraint in its retaliation to the U.S. tariffs and said she would continue to promote the benefits of free trade.

“Obviously the European Union will be responding. We want to ensure, and we’re working with others in the European Union to ensure, that that response is proportionate, that it is within the WTO rules,” she told reporters.

“As the United Kingdom ... we want to be a great champion for free trade around the world and that’s what we will continue to be,” she added.

Britain’s impending departure from the EU and its desire to put a trade deal with the United States at the heart of its post-Brexit global strategy have left May in an awkward position. To limit the long-term damage of a tit-for-tat trade row she has to keep Trump onside without appearing weak and at the same time fulfil Britain’s role

“I will continue to put the argument for the importance of those trade relationships around the world, and I’ll be doing that here at the G7 as I have done elsewhere and will continue to do so elsewhere as well,” she said.

During a 25 minute briefing with journalists aboard her Royal Air Force jet, May twice singled Trump out for praise, on both his contribution to pressuring tech companies about online extremism at last year’s G7, and his diplomatic progress on North Korea. (Reporting by William James Editing by Leslie Adler)
Leaders from the Group of Seven meet in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada to discuss issues facing their countries, including trade between the United States and European Union.