After departing from the Quebec summit, bound for Singapore, US President Donald Trump slammed remarks by the Canadian Prime Minister at the G7 news conference, in which the latter noted that Canada would not be pushed around, as "very dishonest and weak."
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 июня 2018 г.
Earlier in the day, Trudeau said that the communique was agreed upon by all seven member nations. Trudeau later described the US metal tariffs as "insulting" and announced retaliatory measures.
"I highlighted directly to the president that… it's kind of insulting, and I highlighted that it was not helping in our renegotiation of NAFTA, and that it would be with regret, but it would be with absolute certainty and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1," Justin Trudeau said at the press conference following the summit.
We will always stand up for Canadian workers, their jobs & their livelihoods. Today at the @g7 I sat down with @realDonaldTrump for a meeting focused on trade and NAFTA negotiations. pic.twitter.com/roVuNV54ft
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) 9 июня 2018 г.
Earlier in the day, Trump claimed that at the G7 summit he had raised the issue of lifting trade barriers, tariffs and subsides to facilitate international trade.
The Canadian PM's office responded to Trump’s 'tweeting attack,' stating that Trudeau did nothing to provoke the ire of the US President.
Statement from the Prime Minister’s Office:
— Cameron Ahmad (@CameronAhmad) 9 июня 2018 г.
We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the #G7 summit.
The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President.
In the run-up to the G7 summit, US relations with the most of the remaining members have deteriorated as the Trump White House removed an exemption on 25 percent tariffs for steel and 10 percent tariffs for aluminum from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, prompting the bloc and Canada to roll out retaliatory measures.
