Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday criticized United States President Donald Trump for not signing the G7 communique, calling his decision “sobering.”
As per a Deutsche Welle report, Merkel, in her first interview after the summit, called Trump’s statement as “a little depressing” and termed the G7 communique as an “arduously negotiated” one.
This came after Trump tweeted, “Based on Justin’s (Trudeau) false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!”
However, despite Trump’s decision, Merkel insisted that she would continue working with him and at the same time, prepare the European Union to counter the US tariffs on steel and aluminum just like Canada.
“Europe must take its fate into his own hands and no longer imprudently follow the US,” Merkel said.
Earlier in the day, Canadian President Justin Trudeau said that they would move forward with “retaliatory measures.”
Later, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview with Fox News, “There is a special place in hell for any foreign leader who engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”
In a sly rebuke of Navarro’s comment, Top European Union official Donald Tusk tweeted, “There is a special place in heaven for Justin Trudeau. Canada, thank you for the perfect organisation of G7!”
Meanwhile, when asked about Kudlow and Navarro’s comments, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that she was thankful she was “not responsible for explaining the reasoning behind any comments made by the officials of any foreign government.”
She further said that the US tariffs were “illegal and unjustified” and Canada did not believe in using “ad hominem attacks.”
The two-day G7 summit ended on Sunday. (ANI)