Donald Trump played the role of the skunk at the Group of 7 garden party in Quebec June 8-9, as he showed up late, berated the six other national leaders for retaliating against his tariffs on steel and aluminum, and left early, refusing to sign off on the customary communique papering over their differences.
Trump had grumbled about having to go to the G7 meeting at all, and he raised a stink before he made it to the summit, with Twitter attacks on Canada’s trade policies and suggesting that Russia be invited to rejoin the alliance of economic powers, after it was expelled following the 2014 forcible annexation of Crimea.
Once at the summit, Trump engaged in what a French official described to Reuters as a “rant” full of “recriminations” against US trading partners, followed by his public denial of any contention with leaders at the summit, as he said their relationship was a “10.” a
The next morning, Trump showed up conspicuously late to a breakfast meeting on women’s empowerment, missing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s opening statement and creating a distraction with his entry while Isabelle Hudson, Canada’s ambassador to France and co-chair of the gender equality council, was speaking.
Trump left before the ending of the summit, to travel to Singapore, where he was to meet his new best friend, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The remaining six national leaders discussed climate change and environmental crises and reaffirmed their commitment to implement the Parish Agreement on climate change, from which Trump is withdrawing the US. Trump representatives offered a paragraph promoting cleaner fossil fuels.
On Air Force One, Trump heard that Prime Minister Trudeau had spoken at a press conference about retaliatory measures that Canada would take in response to Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. “Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable but we also will not be pushed around,” Trudeau told reporters.
Angry Trump said he ordered his representatives to back out of the joint communique that attempted to minimize the trade dispute, leaving the leaders of Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan to agree on the need for “free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade” and the importance of fighting protectionism.
Trump tweeted: “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”
Trump added he might escalate the trade war by putting tariffs on imported cars and car parts, which would devastate the Canadian auto industry, which is highly integrated with the US.
Trump told reporters it would be “very easy” to make the case for tariffs on auto imports, using the rationale that they threaten national security. “It’s economic. It’s the balance sheet. To have a great military, you need a great balance sheet,” he said.
Trump also repeated his desire to have a “sunset clause” in an updated NAFTA deal, requiring it to be renegotiated every five years, which Trudeau has rejected.
The United Steelworkers union has supported the tariffs on steel and aluminum, but expressed disappointment that the Trump Administration applied the tariffs to Canadian mills, based on supposed national security concerns, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
“The decision not to exempt Canada ignores the fact that Canada’s steel and aluminum exports to the United States are fairly traded and that Canada has shown its willingness to strengthen its laws as well as its cooperation with the United States to fight unfair trade,” USW stated May 31.
Early results showed the tariffs were having the intended impact, USW said, as thousands of jobs were created or saved as trading partners finally began to take action against the root of all the problems: China. Mills in Europe and Japan are more closely matched with US producers.
The same goes for proposed tariffs on auto parts. United Auto Workers President Dennis Wilson welcomed the Trump administration’s investigation of the impact of imported cars on national security. “The United States became a dumping ground for a lot of countries at a very low cost,” he said May 24.
But the trade group that represents General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ interests in Washington is dubious that the probe will give Trump cover to implement tariffs or limit imports.
“We are confident that vehicle imports do not pose a national security risk to the US,” the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said, according to Bloomberg News. In addition to the Big Three US brands, the Alliance also includes BMW, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo, all of which build vehicles in the US.
US goods and services trade with Canada totaled $673.9 billion in 2017, with a net trade surplus of $8.4 billion for the US, according to the Office of US Trade Representative. However, Canada had a $17.5 billion surplus in goods in 2017 while the US had a $25.9 billion surplus in services.
US goods and services trade with China totaled $648.5 billion in 2016 and the US goods trade deficit with China was $347 billion. That is the gap the Trump Administration needs to address.
We hope the vague agreement between Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore survives the flight back home, though we suspect that, in the North Korean dictator, Trump may have met his match in the grifting game. Other US presidents have tried to sound out North Korea leaders on the possibility of reducing tensions along the 38th Parallel, which separates North and South Korea. Trump critics objected to his giving Kim the legitimacy of a summit meeting, but 65 years after an armistice replaced the shooting with a standoff at the Demilitarized Zone, North Korea remains technically at war with South Korea and the US, and we think respectful talk between Trump and Kim is better than exchanges of insulting tweets.
Trump was unprepared to negotiate the details of a peace treaty or “denuclearization” with Kim, but if he gets peace talks going, with the support of South Korea President Moon Jae-In, who has led the peace efforts, we can mark it as a good thing.
North Korea’s longtime allies, Russia and China, probably would welcome an end to North Korea’s bellicose rhetoric, even if Kim is unwilling to give up his nuclear weapons — particularly after John Bolton, said in March, after he became Trump’s national security adviser, that the administration should insist on a “Libyan Solution” for North Korea — requiring Kim to give up his nuclear weapons before any agreements could be reached. Bolton referred to George W. Bush’s demand that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi give up his nuclear program in 2003 in exchange for security guarantees from the US. Of course, Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 with British, French and US military assistance. Saddam Hussein met a similar fate in Iraq in 2003 after giving up his nuclear ambitions, and Trump has shown he doesn’t respect the agreement made by his predecessor, Barack Obama, to limit Iran’s nuclear program. Kim won’t be giving up his nukes anytime soon in exchange for the assurances of Trump — a notorious liar and reneger. — JMC
From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2018
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us
PO Box 819, Manchaca TX 78652