G-7 foreign ministers meet in Canada amid tensions with Trump

LA MALBAIE, Canada - Foreign ministers of leading Western democracies meet in Canada on March 13 after seven weeks of rising tensions between US allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of foreign policy on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs.

The Group of Seven (G-7) ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the EU, meet in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills for two days of meetings that in the past have broadly been consensual on the issues they face.

Top of the agenda for Washington’s partners will be getting a debriefing on

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks on March 11 with Kyiv

in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal.

But in the run-up to the first G-7 meeting of Canada's presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing final statement has been tough. 

A US decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports immediately drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the EU, underscoring the tensions.

Washington has sought to impose red lines on language around Ukraine and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia's so-called shadow fleet, a murky shipping network that eludes sanctions, while demanding more robust language on China.

On March 10, Mr Rubio cautioned that Washington did not want language that could harm efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the table.

Speaking to reporters on March 12, he said a good G-7 statement would recognise that the US has moved the process to end the war forward.

G-7 diplomats said the positive outcome from Jeddah may at least ease talks on Ukraine.

The US, since Mr Trump’s return to office on Jan 20, has taken a less-friendly stance on Ukraine, pushing for a quick deal to end the war, demanded European partners take on more of the burden without openly endorsing their role in future talks, and warmed Washington’s ties with Moscow.

Tariffs to 51st state

Even Japan, so reliant on American security guarantees, has found itself in Mr Trump’s firing line. 

“It’s very difficult. Maybe we should wait for the G-8,” said one European diplomat ironically. 

Mr Trump has suggested the G-8 might be revived with the return of Moscow 11 years after its membership in the group was suspended over its annexation of Crimea.

Nowhere have the difficulties for US allies been more apparent than in Canada. 

Relations between the US and Canada are at an all-time low, thanks to Mr Trump’s

threats to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada

and his constant musing about annexing the country to make it the 51st US state.

“We’re going to be focused in the G-7 on all of those things. That’s what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Mr Rubio told reporters, highlighting how offbeat their ties have become.

That may not appease Ottawa. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on March 12 she would be on the offensive at the G-7.

“In every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans,” she said. 

European diplomats said they hoped to use the G-7 to assess directly how much influence Mr Rubio has on US foreign policy.

Mr Trump has used a wide array of officials not linked to the State Department in talks ranging from Ukraine to the situation in the Middle East, where allies have been alarmed by some of the erratic statements coming from Washington. REUTERS