President Donald Trump on Saturday said he wanted to see the elimination of trade barriers between the United States and its closest allies amid tensions over the Trump administration’s move to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico.
Speaking during an impromptu news conference at the G7 summit in Canada on Saturday, Trump said his ultimate goal was the elimination of all trade duties.
“Ultimately that’s what you want,” he said. “You want a tariff free. You want no barriers. And you want no subsidies. Because you have some cases where countries are subsidizing industries and that’s not fair.”
Trump’s call for the elimination of trade barriers come amid fears of an all-out trade war after the US moved ahead with a 25 percent import tax on steel and a 10 percent on aluminum on most countries. The United States’ closest trading partners — the EU, Canada and Mexico — have vowed to impose retaliatory tariffs on scores of US products beginning in the coming weeks.
G7 leaders had intended to use the summit to confront Trump on the tariffs, which they have described as protectionist and a threat to the global economy.
Trump said he discussed the idea of eliminating tariffs with his G7 counterparts.
“I did suggest it … I guess they are going to go back to the drawing board and check it out,” Trump said. “The relationships are very good,” he added, mentioning his discussions with French and Canadian leaders specifically.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to indicate room for negotiation ahead of a delayed meeting with Trump, telling reporters “Sometimes we disagree.”
Globally, tariffs are close to their lowest levels ever — averaging around 2.9 percent — according to the latest data from the World Bank. Tariffs have been falling for decades due to free trade agreements.
Before departing the summit, Trump doubled-down on his assertions that the US has been subjected to unfair trade duties for many years. “It’s going to change. Tariffs will come way down. We’re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing and that ends.”
He added, “if they retaliate, they’re making a mistake. We have a tremendous trade imbalance. When we try to bring our piece up a little bit so it’s not so bad.”
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said Trump’s comments on eliminating tariffs among G7 nations would be “tremendous news” if the President is serious about the issue, adding, “I would happily carry his bag to every single meeting of those negotiations.”
But Sasse said Trump’s complaints that other countries have taken advantage of the United States are unfounded, adding that he recommended “less whining on the global stage.”
“The simple fact is that more trade has been overwhelmingly beneficial to U.S. families and to net U.S. job creation for 75 straight years, and pretending America has been taken advantage of — that is, pretending that we’re losers — isn’t true.
“The constant victim-talk doesn’t help anyone,” he continued. “It doesn’t help trade negotiations. And it doesn’t help U.S. citizens understand the disruption in our economy that is actually coming from more technology and more automation, not from free trade agreements — which have overwhelmingly benefited American families.”
Trump’s characterization of the United States’ relationships with allies as “a 10” when asked at the news conference about any tensions between his administration and other G7 nations also drew criticism from a senior European diplomat.
“He must mean there are 10 things on which we totally disagree,” the diplomat said. “Or like the title of the movie ’10 Things I Hate About You.'”
Trump has long criticized the United States’ goods deficit. Economists point out that the current US economy is much more driven by services like hospitals, universities, tech companies and banks. Manufacturing, an industry Trump focuses on, makes up about 10 percent of US economic output.
Recent World Trade Organization data shows that America’s average tariff for imported goods is 2.4 percent. Canada’s average tariff for imported goods is 3.1 percent, and the EU’s average tariff for imported goods is 3 percent.