Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies sought on Wednesday to downplay spats over U.S. President Trump’s tariffs and unite to keep the forum viable as they met in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The “G6 plus one” meeting ended with the hosts Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, and Italy unitedly concerned and disappointed over Trump’s tariffs.
The G7 finance ministers and central bank governors were striving to issue a joint communiqué covering non-tariff issues, including support for Ukraine, the threat from non-market economic policies of countries including China, and combating financial crimes and drug trafficking. Particularly, the finance leaders were trying hard to avoid a repeat of a shattered G7 finance meeting hosted by Canada in 2018, when Trump’s first-term steel and aluminum tariffs made the joint statement impossible.
However, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said there was a marked improvement in the mood and that the discussion between the allies was both sincere and honest. Lombard earlier said that he was willing to live without a joint statement as long as the G7 reached a better understanding of how to reduce trade imbalances, better growth policies, and the war in Ukraine.
Giorgetti says reaching a communique compromise is crucial
Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said reaching a communiqué compromise was a crucial step that needed careful consideration. A European source said U.S. officials wanted to delete language describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “illegal” from the draft, but Giorgetti said Italy was pushing a proposal to bar countries that had supported Russia’s war effort from being part of Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The G7 finance ministers also put a positive spin on discussions in Banff, Alberta, to try to reach an agreement on a joint communique largely covering non-tariff issues. They agreed that excessive forex movements could negatively impact economies. As such, they were looking for closer coordination to stabilize currency and financial markets, particularly in the face of trade tensions and protectionist measures. However, Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato called out recent U.S. tariffs for creating market uncertainties, emphasizing the need for freer trade regimes.
“Making progress is what matters ultimately. It’s not just a question of agreeing on a statement today for the sake of it.”
– Eric Lombard , French Finance Minister
With discussions set to close Thursday, hopes for a final communique reflecting unity among the Group of Seven advanced economies remained uncertain as tensions persisted on Trump’s trade policies.
Champagne urges ‘common ground’ as he talks of bridging differences
The meeting’s host, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, said there was always tension around tariffs, as would be expected, but at the same time, there was a lot that could be achieved together. He, however, declined to say whether he raised the issue of tariffs in his bilateral meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent but insisted the pair “get along very well.” He added that he and Bessent wanted to build on the positive tone Trump struck with Prime Minister Mark Carney at their meeting in Washington earlier this month.
Champagne brought Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko to his opening press conference Tuesday and talked of bridging differences even as G7 member countries grappled with a raft of steep tariffs that the U.S. imposed on them. He largely avoided commenting directly on U.S. tariffs but said the G7 for him was “going back to basics,” quickly adding that for him, the basics also meant a “fair, free and rule-based multilateral trading system” — a counterpoint to unilateral actions by Trump that were disrupting international commerce.
Champagne also said he wanted to coordinate with the U.S. to tackle challenges such as “overcapacity” and “non-market practices,” where countries like China subsidized industries and overproduced products that could flood world markets and swamp foreign competitors.
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