G7 agrees on narrow set of issues as trade tensions overshadow summit

The leaders of the world’s rich democracies agreed to work together to build critical mineral supply chains and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence, but they made few strides in addressing the U.S. trade war which hung over the Group of Seven summit.

After two days of meetings in Kananaskis, Alta., G7 leaders published six joint statements addressing a narrow range of economic and security issues, such as advanced computer technology and wildfire prevention. This was done instead of publishing a single joint communiqué, as happens after most G7 meetings.

The decision to go issue-by-issue, in a bid to get consensus from all the leaders, reflects the deep divisions over global trade that have emerged since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Mr. Trump has placed tariffs on all of the other G7 countries and shown disdain for the liberal trading order once championed by the G7.

“The fact that at a time when multilateralism is under great strain, and I’m absolutely clear it is, that we got together, we agreed on a number of areas, the six related statements. . . that’s important and that’s valuable,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said at the closing press conference.

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The leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan all came to Kananaskis hoping to talk trade with Mr. Trump. Most left having made little apparent progress securing tariff relief.

Mr. Trump departed abruptly on Monday evening to deal with the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, and cast doubt on the progress of several trade negotiations on his way out the door.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Monday night, Mr. Trump said the European Union wasn’t “offering a fair deal,” and that Japan was being “tough” in its trade negotiations. Unless they secure deals, both the EU and Japan face a sharp jump in U.S. tariffs within weeks, as the three-month pause on U.S. “reciprocal tariffs” nears an end.

Mr. Trump praised Mr. Carney’s handling of the summit, but suggested that the “complex” plan Mr. Carney has put forward in a bid to get the U.S. to lower tariffs may not fly.

“When you get too complex on the deals then they never get done, and we need speed,” said Mr. Trump.

Canada and the U.S. have said they will continue negotiating with the aim of coming to some sort of trade and security deal within 30 days. But it’s unclear how the two will come to an agreement.

Canada is looking for the U.S. to remove all of the tariffs it has placed on Canadian steel, aluminum, automobiles and goods that don’t comply with the continental free trade agreement’s rules of origin. Mr. Trump has remained steadfast in his support for tariffs, declaring himself a “tariff person” in his public appearance alongside Mr. Carney on Monday.

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Mr. Trump’s early departure also meant that he missed face-to-face discussions with several non-G7 leaders who were invited to the summit but did not show up until late on Monday. This included Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ms. Sheinbaum said in a social media post on Tuesday that she’d “had a very good telephone conversation” with Mr. Trump.

In order to avoid trade disputes derailing the whole summit, Canada, as the host, opted to focus the group discussions on areas where there was consensus.

This led to a joint statement on critical minerals. The leaders agreed to launch an “action plan” aimed at developing alternative supply chains for critical minerals – which include lithium, cobalt and rare earth minerals – to reduce a reliance on China for these key industrial inputs. The plan will involve setting new standards for markets, as well as financing mines and processing facilities.

What the G7 statements released by world leaders say and don’t say

Concerns about the supply of rare-earth elements, in particular, have become acute after China briefly restricted their export earlier this year as part of its ongoing trade war with the U.S.

“We’re going to work with partners G7 and beyond, with a number of the countries that are here today, to develop critical metals and minerals in order to build independence from non-market economies,” Mr. Carney said, without explicitly mentioning China.

“And to that end, we will create a critical mineral production alliance, a G7-led strategic initiative to stockpile and develop critical minerals needed for defence and technology.”

The other statements included a commitment to collaborate on artificial intelligence and quantum computing technology. The leaders said they would work together to develop uses for AI in the public sector, to help small businesses adopt the technology, and to come up with “innovative solutions” to reduce energy consumption by data centres.

Other joint statements condemned foreign interference and migrant smuggling, and committed to working together to mitigate wildfires. Any mention of climate change was notably absent.

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The summit ended without any major blow-ups of the kind that marred the last Canadian G7 summit in 2018, when Mr. Trump refused to sign the communiqué and lambasted his host, former prime minister Justin Trudeau, as “very dishonest and weak.”

Nonetheless, this year’s summit highlighted the growing distance between the U.S. and other Western countries on free trade and the value of a rules-based international order.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron spelled out his preference for no tariffs among G7 members. “Our wish is that we resolve the tariffs as quickly as possible. . .We can have differences afterwards which are regulatory, but on the tariff level, there is nothing that justifies having tariffs,” he said.

Speaking a day earlier, Mr. Trump spelled out a different vision.

“If you look at the European Union, they formed in order to hurt the United States on trade,” Mr. Trump said as he left the summit. “And we’re either going to make a good deal or they’ll just pay whatever we say they have to pay.”