Finally a G7 without the usual obvious press release, made up of good intentions, and group photos with a perfunctory greeting. As in the finale of one of the best episodes of "The Apprentice", US President Donald Trump broke all protocol dictates by lashing out at the Canadian Premier host "Beautiful hair" Justin Trudeau. The level of the debate, well beyond the worst condominium meeting, first saw an attempt by the French president Emmanuel Macron to overtake "to the right", where it is now stationary, with a proclamation in defense of the "G6+" with threatening tones towards Trump and his isolation from the rest of the Group caused by wanting to stick around with tariffs. Macron, strengthened by the consensus on internal politics and in the need for a successful foreign policy, raises his voice, despite his well-known "commercial" closeness to Iran and his many ambiguities in relations with Qatar (despite the Saudi embargo).
Trudeau glosses over the duties he imposes on American agricultural products, while announcing the countermeasures against US duties at a press conference, triggering the reaction of Trump who, while flying to Singapore in view of the historic meeting with Kim Jong Un, signs with two tweet one of the most controversial pages in the history of the G7, denying and denying the signing of the joint statement and reiterating that the US will never be the G7's convenient "bank".
But let's summarize: the meeting sees Trudeau provoking Trump with a start of work without an "academic quarter of an hour" and therefore without Trump. In the midst of the discussion, Trump launches a mantra shared by all for a full and correct liberalization of trade and a plan of common and shared rules that make it possible to overcome barriers and battles over tariffs. A theme on which the highest moment of the whole meeting suddenly develops.
So the latest negotiations for the release seemed to have satisfied everyone, dampened Macron's "Gallism" thanks to a Merkel who is increasingly fundamental to the balance of the G7 and strong in patience and "Gandhian" in the midst of so many "first ladies". Fears of a trade war seem to make the G7 lose the attention it deserves on other major issues but above all on the health of the global economy, and the alarm bell on emerging markets, subject to outflows of over 12 billion US dollars in the last month on stocks and bonds.
In the end the communiqué, where Trump had already abstained on his commitment to sign the Paris climate accords, contains a couple of warnings: towards Iran on the proliferation of nuclear weapons, towards North Korea which is called to dismantle the missiles and towards Russia called to the need to cease destabilizing behavior. But above all, accepting Trump's invitation, the need for a reform of the WTO, the World Trade Organization, is made explicit, and it is reiterated that only free trade that respects the rules can become a fundamental key for triggering a mechanism of stable and balanced growth.
Trump's undiplomatic and very "business oriented" strategy, aimed at decreasing world trade surpluses with the USA, may or may not like it but it certainly breaks the mold and brings out interests and connivances which are usually dusted off under the reassuring carpet of the press release to the "we wished well". So today on the markets we will still have tensions on the automotive sector and on the Nafta currencies: Canadian dollar and Mexican peso. Surely in this clash between the titans Italy is unable to carve out a front-line role, but it could not have been different given the new Premier's lack of familiarity with international meetings.
And the European markets, after collecting redemptions of over 11 billion US dollars on European ETFs and equity funds, are dragged down by a loss of consensus towards the area to which Italy contributes its share, with the widening of the spread . Thus the lights of the reality show go out in Canada, the issues on migrants and the exponential growth of Big Tech vanish into thin air and China will continue to implement its tariff barriers, limit intellectual property rights (trademarks, patents that protect delocalized foreign productions there!) while the Europeans instead of reaching an agreement with the USA each prefer to cultivate their own commercial ambiguities. Trudeau, you're fired!
