News-Disk (Reuter) -The summit on Friday and Saturday in Charlevoix, Quebec, will be the first chance that G7 leaders will have to confront Trump in person since he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union last week.
After details of May’s current schedule for the trip were distributed to journalists traveling with her to Canada, officials confirmed that no formal bilateral with Trump was expected. They did not rule out a one-to-one meeting in a different format.
May signaled that Britain wanted the European Union to use restraint in its retaliation to the U.S. tariffs and said she would continue to promote the benefits of free trade.
“Obviously the European Union will be responding. We want to ensure, and we’re working with others in the European Union to ensure, that that response is proportionate, that it is within the WTO rules,” she told reporters.
“As the United Kingdom ... we want to be a great champion for free trade around the world and that’s what we will continue to be,” she added.
Britain’s impending departure from the EU and its desire to put a trade deal with the United States at the heart of its post-Brexit global strategy have left May in an awkward position. To limit the long-term damage of a tit-for-tat trade row she has to keep Trump onside without appearing weak and at the same time fulfill Britain’s role
“I will continue to put the argument for the importance of those trade relationships around the world, and I’ll be doing that here at the G7 as I have done elsewhere and will continue to do so elsewhere as well,” she said.
During a 25 minute briefing with journalists aboard her Royal Air Force jet, May twice singled Trump out for praise, on both his contribution to pressuring tech companies about online extremism at last year’s G7, and his diplomatic progress on North Korea.
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