G7 Summit

            There are two topics that have dominated the news recently. One of those topics is the G7 summit held over the weekend in Quebec, Canada. In case you are wondering what G7 means, here is the Wikipedia definition: 

The Group of Seven (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries, with the seven largest advanced economies in the world, represent more than 62% of the global net wealth ($280 trillion).

            President Donald Trump attended, along with the leaders of the other nations, and made one thing clear. He basically sent the heads of the globalist leaders of Europe and Japan spinning when he told them that the piggy bank is closed. He is looking for what is good for the citizens of the United States first. He pressed his case that the U.S. has been on the losing end when it comes to trade with other nations. As he often does, President Trump caught everyone off guard when he made this suggestion. 

No tariffs, no barriers – that’s the way it should be. And no subsides. I even said no tariffs. Ultimately that’s what you want. You want tariff-free, no barriers, and you want no subsides because you have some countries subsidizing industries and that’s not fair. So, you go tariff free, you go barrier free, you go subsidy free.

            The G7 leaders were shocked because this is not the way that the United States usually does business with them. They discovered that Trump is not like the usual politicians with whom they have been dealing. They did not like being told that the United States is no longer going to foot their bills, and they were stunned to learn that Trump was unwilling to play by their elitist rules.

            The G7 leaders prepared a “communique” that Trump signed before he rushed off to meet with the leader of North Korea. After Trump left, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted him in a press conference and threatened retaliatory measures on July 1. When Trump heard what Trudeau was saying, he withdrew his signature from the communique. In saying that Fair Trade is not fair unless it is reciprocal, he added, “We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing, and that ends.”

            Trump’s unpredictability is frustrating Europe’s leaders just as it does the Democrats. It appears that he used the occasion to expose the unfavorable balance in trade between the U.S. and the other nations in the group. We helped the nations of Europe to rebuild after World War II ended seventy years ago and continued to prop them up. Now it is time for them to stand on their feet and stop depending on the United States.