Giardini-Naxos, Italy
The leaders of the seven wealthiest democracies had better luck finding agreement on the other problematic topic at the summit, trade. While the G-7 failed to reach a consensus on climate change, the group restored a vow to fight protectionism — the use of import taxes and skewed regulations that favour domestic producers over their foreign competitors. The no-protectionism pledge had been a part of previous G-7 statements but was omitted after a meeting of the group’s finance ministers’ earlier this month in Bari, Italy. This time the G-7 leaders, meeting in the Italian seaside town of Taormina, reiterated a “commitment to keep our markets open and to fight protectionism.”
The Trump administration has argued that trade must be balanced and fair as well as free. His Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, says the United States reserves the right to be protectionist if trade arrangements are unfair to US companies and workers. Elected on a platform of “America First,” the president told his fellow leaders that protecting US jobs was his priority, according to two government officials from member delegations.
However Trump’s position appeared to be addressed by new language in the final G-7 accord that said the member countries would be “standing firm against all unfair trade practices.”
However, the group’s arguments over climate, which pitted US President Donald Trump about the other six leaders, did managed to spill over into economic discussions.
“President Trump should join these leaders in protecting Americans from the mounting impacts of climate change and reaping the economic benefits of the clean energy revolution, rather than trying to shore up the flagging fortunes of the polluting coal and oil industries,” said Alden Meyer, the director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group in Washington
The G-7 is an informal gathering that meets every year under a rotating chairmanship. Its decisions are not binding as an international treaty would be, simply representing the leaders’ political commitment to carry through. The member countries are: Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United States and the UK. The European Union also attends.
