e-Gonomics
G7 2018, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada (https://g7.gc.ca/en/)
Global Affairs Canada. June 11, 2018. Foreign Affairs Minister to visit Washington, D.C.
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will visit Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, June 13, and Thursday, June 14, 2018. The Minister will meet with the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
RESULTS
PM. June 10, 2018. Prime Minister concludes successful G7 Summit focused on creating economic growth that benefits everyone
Québec City, Quebec - As the 2018 G7 President, Canada put forward a progressive agenda that reflects our values and ambitions. This week, G7 leaders met in the Charlevoix region of Quebec to find real, concrete solutions to pressing global challenges—the type of solutions that will make a real difference in the lives of people in our countries and around the world.
At the Summit, G7 leaders talked about investing in economic growth that works for everyone and preparing people for the jobs of the future. They reaffirmed their commitment to advance gender equality, defend their democracies against foreign threats, and build a more peaceful and secure world. They also discussed climate change, oceans, and clean energy.
Yesterday, Canada, along with the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank, announced an investment of nearly $3.8 billion CAD to support quality education for women and girls living in crisis, conflict-affected and fragile states. This funding represents the single largest investment of its kind in history. In the fight for greater equality, education is key—it gives women and girls the tools they need to make their own decisions about their future and live the life they want for themselves.
Throughout the Summit, leaders discussed the future of the economy and their shared responsibility to create sustainable economic growth that works for everyone, particularly those at risk of being left behind. They endorsed the Charlevoix Commitment on Equality and Economic Growth, which reinforces a common commitment to fight poverty, achieve gender equality, reduce income inequality, and ensure better access to financial resources so that everyone has a chance to earn a decent living. They also committed to build a common vision for the future of artificial intelligence and to champion innovative financing that supports international development and reinforces gender equality and women’s empowerment.
G7 leaders discussed how to tackle climate change, and the importance of investing in clean energy, and protecting our oceans and coastal communities. Recognizing that plastics pose a significant threat to our oceans, five countries have agreed to the Oceans Plastics Charter, which speaks to our common resolve to eradicate plastic pollution. This is a positive step for the environment and for businesses that will benefit from reducing the cost associated with plastic use. Building on this initiative, Canada will invest $100 million to rid our oceans of global marine litter and plastic pollution.
G7 leaders agreed to the Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, which will promote sustainable oceans and fisheries, and support resilient coasts and coastal communities. Canada will invest $162 million to support these goals, and preserve the health and resilience of our oceans and coasts.
To build a more peaceful and secure world, leaders committed to take strong action in response to foreign actors who seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, and our sovereignty. G7 leaders agreed to establish a G7 rapid response mechanism, which will strengthen coordination among our countries to identify and respond to these diverse and evolving threats. Through this initiative, G7 countries will share information and analysis, and identify new opportunities where we can work together to defend our democracies.
As leaders, we will ensure all workers have access to the skills and education they need to adapt and prosper in our rapidly changing global economy. In particular, we will expand training and education programs for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), to ensure that we build a forward-looking economy for future generations.
On the margins of the G7 Summit, the Prime Minister also met with several world leaders and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to promote increased cooperation and collaboration on global issues of mutual concern. They discussed gender equality, climate change, peace and security, as well as economic growth—themes that were at the forefront of Canada’s G7 Presidency.
Canada hopes that this year’s G7 marks the start of a new tradition where gender equality will continue to be a cross-cutting theme of G7 presidencies. In the coming months and years, we must continue to work together to spur innovation, put people first, and deliver growth that works for everyone. Together, the leaders have a real opportunity to improve the lives of their citizens and build stronger communities and economies. The discussions they had over the past two days will help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, and Canada looks forward to continue working with its partners to deliver meaningful solutions for people around the world.
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“We are facing pressing social, economic and environmental challenges that transcend all borders. Only by working together will we find the innovative solutions we need to deliver meaningful results to people around the world. Canada is committed to working with other countries to fight inequalities, create economic growth that benefits everyone, and leave a better, healthier planet for future generations.”
—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Quick Facts- Prior to meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau, world leaders and heads of international organizations participated in a special G7 Summit outreach session focused on healthy oceans and resilient coastal communities.
- In addition to meeting with the G7 leaders, the Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with the following leaders:
- Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina and Chair of the G20
- Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
- Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya
- Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Chair of the African Union
- Macky Sall, President of Senegal
- Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
- Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Prime Minister of Vietnam
- The Prime Minister also held a roundtable discussion with leaders of Small Island Developing States.
- On June 7, Prime Minister Trudeau released a report – Achieving Growth that Works for Everyone – to highlight economic challenges faced by our citizens and identify ways we can work together to address them.
- The G7 is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union was first invited to attend the G7 in 1977, but is not part of the hosting rotation.
- In 2019, France will hold the G7 Presidency.
- The previous Canadian-hosted Summits were held in Muskoka, Ontario (2010); Kananaskis, Alberta (2002); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1995); Toronto, Ontario (1988); and Ottawa-Montebello, Ontario and Quebec (1981).
We live in a world in which technological innovation is rapidly transforming the nature of work and globalization is increasingly perceived as a cause of inequality. Demographic shifts, the effects of climate change, and uneven growth have put pressure on countries all over the world, especially fragile and conflict-affected states.
These challenges, however, also present tremendous opportunities, which we must seize together. All countries share a responsibility to focus on policies that encourage innovation, put people first, and deliver progress for everyone.
Providing an equal and fair chance at success
G7 leaders acknowledged a shared responsibility to work together to stimulate economic growth that benefits everyone and, in particular, those most at risk of being left behind. Leaders endorsed the Charlevoix Commitment on Equality and Economic Growth which reinforces our pledge to eradicate poverty, advance gender equality, foster income equality, ensure better access to financial resources, and create decent work and quality of life for all.
At the G7 Summit, leaders also agreed on a Charlevoix Commitment on Innovative Financing for Development to promote economic growth in developing countries. Leaders recognized the importance of development and humanitarian assistance to promote greater equality of opportunity, and will continue to work to develop innovative ways to ensure no one is left behind.
At home, the Government of Canada is working to make sure that every Canadian has an equal and fair chance at success – our future prosperity depends on it. We need to make sure that the benefits of a growing economy are felt by more and more people – with more good, well-paying jobs for the middle class and everyone working hard to join it.
Over the last two years, Canada’s economic growth has been driven by a stronger middle class. Canadians’ hard work, combined with historic investments in people and communities, has helped to create more good jobs. More help for those who need it also means more money for people to save, invest, and spend in their communities.
Economic growth that works for everyone requires the full and equal participation of women, the protection of workers’ rights, and the growth of the middle class, so that we can build economies that leave no one behind.
Canada is committed to working with its G7 partners to make sure that everyone can contribute to, and share in, the benefits of an increasingly integrated global economy.
Working together
G7 development ministers, as well as G7 finance ministers and central bank governors, met from May 31 to June 2, 2018, in Whistler, British Columbia. A joint meeting with development and finance ministers was held on June 1, 2018.
Development ministers examined gender-responsive humanitarian assistance and innovative approaches to development assistance to maximize impact and results towards the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting focused on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which play a key role in eradicating poverty, overcoming social barriers, and building more inclusive, prosperous and peaceful societies. Members of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency also participated in the meetings, offering important perspectives on how G7 countries can move toward achieving gender equality.
Development ministers agreed to take action on the following four themes outlined in the G7 Whistler declarations:
- Advancing the empowerment of adolescent girls to achieve sustainable development
- Combatting sexual exploitation and abuse in the development and humanitarian sectors
- Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian action
- Accelerating innovation to increase the impact of development.
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed the benefits of an open rules-based trading system. They also reiterated their commitment to improving the effectiveness and governance of global economic and financial institutions to build more resilient systems that work for everyone.
They recognized that a key challenge facing our economies is making sure that every person has a real and fair chance to contribute to, and share in, economic success, and that we need to adapt in order to take advantage of rapid changes in the modern economy. In addition, they examined how to best address cyber risks in the financial sector and foster greater tax fairness.
The joint meeting with development and finance ministers focused on solutions to pressing issues, including women’s economic empowerment. They also discussed how to build economic resilience against extreme weather events, and how to encourage more innovative approaches to financing sustainable development through private capital.
Finding solutions that provide equal opportunities
The G7 leaders are in a unique position to find concrete solutions that will promote equality of opportunity and fairness across genders and generations. Full economic cooperation at the global level means that no one and no country should be left behind.
Canada will continue to support progressive and open trade within a rules-based system so that the benefits reach all citizens, and so that everyone is equipped with the skills and tools they need to adapt to the changing nature of work and succeed in the global economy.
As our economies grow, Canada and its G7 partners must pay particular attention to traditionally vulnerable groups. This includes supporting women and girls in all aspects of society by addressing barriers to their full participation in the workforce and in their communities.
Together, we will work to support economic growth that benefits everyone, strengthen the middle class, and leave our citizens with a better, more hopeful future.
Preparing for jobs of the future
New technologies impact how we work, and hold the potential to deliver transformational shifts in our societies. While these shifts present challenges, they also present incredible opportunities for both emerging and traditional labour sectors.
That is why Canada is making smart investments today to build a forward-looking economy for future generations. This also means taking steps to ensure that all Canadians have access to the training and education they need to lead our rapidly changing global economy.
Beyond our borders, Canada is also working with its G7 partners to create new and sustainable sources of economic growth that will create good, well paying jobs. Now is the time for the G7 to drive global innovation, attract increased investment, and grow successful companies. We have a responsibility to ensure that opportunities created by the global economy are available to all citizens and that the benefits are shared by everyone.
Changing economies and workforce
In Canada, like all over the world, much of the economic and labour force growth we experienced over the last many decades is because of women entering into – and changing – the workforce. To unlock the greatest economic benefit, the path forward must include a strong focus on women and groups that are currently underrepresented in the labour market.
At the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, leaders resolved to ensure that all workers have access to the skills and education they need to adapt and prosper, including by expanding training and education, particularly for girls and women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Further, leaders endorsed the Charlevoix Common Vision for the Future of Artificial Intelligence to drive economic growth and help address some of the most pressing global challenges.
A meeting of the G7 ministers of employment and innovation was held in Montréal on March 27 and 28, 2018, to discuss how to best prepare for the jobs of the future. Ministers explored how the changing economy is impacting industries and workers and how we can support all citizens to adapt and thrive in the new world of work. Members of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency also participated in the meetings, offering important perspectives on how G7 countries can move toward achieving gender equality. During the meeting, the ministers agreed to:
- Continue advancing adaptive and transformative technologies
- Convene a multi-stakeholder conference on artificial intelligence hosted by Canada in Fall 2018
- Create a G7 Employment Task Force to undertake targeted research and analysis, and make recommendations on priority issues for G7 countries on preparing for jobs of the future
- Launch the G7 Future of Work Forum, a digital tool that will support the work of the G7 Employment Task Force and enable member states to share information on policies, programs and ideas
- Promote domestic and international tools to address violence and harassment in the workplace through the development of international standards under the International Labour Organization’s leadership.
To achieve the greatest economic benefit, ministers have also decided that policies and initiatives must include a strong focus on empowering women and removing the barriers they continue to face in the workplace.
In addition, Canada will host a conference with domestic partners on preparing for jobs of the future and encourage other G7 countries to engage their domestic partners in similar discussions.
Together, with our G7 partners, we need to act now to prepare our companies and people so that they can take advantage of the new, exciting opportunities of tomorrow. Our efforts will help develop the robust approaches we need to support our citizens and build an economy that works for everyone.
Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment
Gender equality is a fundamental human right, and a top priority for Canada and its G7 Presidency. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are critical to building peace, reducing poverty, and growing our economies.
To create economic growth that works for everyone, we need to remove barriers that hold people back. Still today, half of our population does not benefit from equal access to education and opportunities. Making sure that women can fully participate in promoting democracy, advancing the economy, achieving peace and security and addressing climate change is not just the right thing to do – it is the smart thing to do. Gender equality leads to growth that benefits us all.
Importance of Education
Women's and girls’ education has a key role to play in resolving global challenges, which is why Canada is engaging with the international community to ensure that women and girls have access to quality education, particularly in crisis and conflict situations.
Everyone benefits when women and girls have an equal chance at success and are able to freely participate in society. While there is still work to do, both national and international efforts and investments are making a difference.
At the G7 Summit, Canada, along with the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank, announced an investment of nearly $3.8 billion CAD to support quality education for women and girls living in crisis, conflict-affected and fragile states. This funding represents the single largest investment of its kind.
G7 Leaders also agreed to the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls, Adolescent Girls, and Women in Developing Countries, to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring the opportunity for at least 12 years of safe and quality education for all, and to removing the barriers to girls’ and women’s quality education.
Sexual and gender-based violence
Sexual and gender-based violence – including abuse and harassment – are unacceptable, and only serve as obstacles to a free and equal society. They have devastating health and social impacts on the lives of individuals, families, communities and societies as a whole. Canada is committed to eliminating sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms.
At the G7 Summit, leaders agreed to the Charlevoix Commitment to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Abuse, and Harassment in Digital Contexts, and that they would strive for a future where an individual’s human rights are equally protected both offline and online.
Canada recently launched “It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence” to lay the foundation for greater action on this issue at home. The Strategy focuses on three pillars – prevention, support for survivors and families, and promoting a responsive legal and justice systems – and aims to fill in existing gaps in support for diverse populations.
Canada has also adopted a feminist approach to its international assistance policy, which recognizes that sexual and gender-based violence is one of the most pervasive and egregious human rights violations. The Feminist International Assistance Policy outlines actions to combat sexual and gender-based violence, including support for comprehensive approaches and raising awareness of rights among women and girls to promote increased access to justice and support for survivors.
Women’s and girls’ rights are human rights – and that includes their sexual and reproductive rights. Canada is committed to promoting the health and well-being of women and girls, including access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and information.
Advancing gender equality
Canada recognizes the need to increase investments in policies and international initiatives and is committed to work with its G7 partners to promote women’s rights internationally.
Canada is determined to apply a gender lens to all G7 discussions this year, and make sure everyone’s voices and perspectives – regardless of their gender identity – are taken into account. Gender equality is a guiding theme of our G7 Presidency.
To support this year’s theme, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, created the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency, which will continue to support leaders and ministers in ensuring that gender equality and women’s empowerment are integrated across all themes, activities, and initiatives of Canada’s G7 Presidency. Canada hopes that this year’s G7 marks the start of a new tradition where gender equality will continue to be a cross-cutting theme of G7 presidencies.
Canada also wants to work with G7 partners – and other domestic and international partners – to realize a future where the same human rights that people have offline are protected online. While technology has an important role to play in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, it also has the potential to perpetuate new forms of violence, abuse, and harassment. Everyone – regardless of gender identity – should feel safe in all spaces, online and offline.
Working together on climate change, oceans, and clean energy
The effects of climate change are real. Extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, are more frequent and getting worse, affecting millions of people around the world. Rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and thinning sea ice are also threatening vulnerable regions and coastal communities, including the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples that live there.
At the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, leaders agreed that a healthy planet and sustainable economic growth are mutually beneficial, and agreed to work together towards a resilient future that creates jobs for our citizens. Leaders discussed climate change, investing in clean energy, and protecting our oceans and coastal communities.
Protecting our oceans
Canada’s vision is a zero-plastic waste future. It will not be an easy goal to achieve, but the scope of the problem is too significant to ignore. To reduce plastics, we will need to work together – all levels of governments, industry, consumers, civil society, and academics – to advance research and innovation in new technologies and approaches.
As oceans are a shared global resource, Canada is also working with international partners to advance efforts to protect oceans.
G7 leaders endorsed the Charlevoix Blueprint for Health Oceans, Seas, and Resilient Coastal Communities, and will improve oceans knowledge, promote sustainable oceans and fisheries, support resilient coasts and coastal communities, and address ocean plastic waste and marine litter.
Recognizing that plastics pose a significant threat to our oceans, five countries have agreed to the Oceans Plastics Charter with the goal of eradicating plastic pollution. Canada will invest $100 million through a marine litter mitigation fund that will prevent plastic waste from entering the oceans, address plastic waste on shorelines, and better manage existing plastic resources.
Canada is also investing $162 million to build stronger and more resilient coasts and communities. This funding includes $100 million to support the expansion of Climate Risk Insurance coverage in climate-vulnerable countries, including for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean, and $60 million to support the expansion of their clean energy systems and infrastructure, improve energy access for women and girls in SIDS, and provide training and employment opportunities for women in non-traditional, sustainable technology sectors. Also included in this funding is $2 million to support efforts by developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Canada is taking action at home to improve the health of the world’s oceans, including through the national $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and coastal communities to protect and support vital aquatic ecosystems, including endangered whale species, and to restore coastal habitats across the country.
Youth from across G7 countries have been invited to bring forward their ideas on how to protect oceans and the environment. The #myoceans2050 and #G7oceans conversations will continue during the G7 environment and energy ministers meetings in Fall 2018, where they will discuss how to work together on climate change, oceans, and clean energy.
Adapting to a changing climate
Canada recognizes the urgent need to address these environmental challenges, and accelerate the transition toward a sustainable, resilient, low carbon future. That is why “Working together on climate change, oceans, and clean energy” is one of the key themes of Canada’s G7 Presidency.
Canada remains committed to working with domestic partners to meet emissions reduction targets, while growing the economy and building resilience against a changing climate through the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. At the G7 Summit, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union reaffirmed their strong commitment to implement the Paris Agreement, an ambitious and balanced agreement to fight climate change.
Building on clean energy innovations
Canada and its G7 partners committed to continued action to strengthen their collective energy security and ensure that energy systems continue to drive sustainable economic growth.
Canada believes that as a global community, we must work harder to support clean energy innovation. These efforts must seek to increase research and development, diversify energy supply and supply routes, generate more energy from renewable sources, invest in resilient energy systems and infrastructure, and find new solutions for the sustainable extraction and use of fossil fuels.
By sharing knowledge and supporting the development of clean energy technologies, we will be able to meet climate goals and create new economic opportunities that work for everyone.
Going forward, G7 countries will continue to drive progress and find solutions that will help build a more sustainable future and leave a cleaner, healthier planet for generations to come.
Building a more peaceful and secure world
Building a more peaceful and secure world – founded on the values of inclusion, acceptance, and gender equality – is more important than ever to address the very real and persistent threats we face as a global community. These threats – including foreign actors trying to undermine our democratic institutions, terrorism, violent extremism, sexual violence, organized crime, weapons proliferation, as well as cybercrime – are wide-ranging and transcend all borders. Together, we need to act now to promote and protect the rights, freedoms, and safety of our citizens.
G7 Leaders’ Summit
At the G7 Summit, leaders recognized that respect for human rights, the rule of law, and equality of opportunity are needed to ensure lasting security and economic growth that works for everyone. Discussions among G7 leaders focused on concrete actions we can take to defend our democratic systems from foreign threats, including those that are aimed at undermining our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security. G7 leaders looked at the need for a coordinated, multi-dimensional approach to address these growing threats – and to identify and hold to account those who would do us harm. To that end, leaders agreed to the Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats.
Leaders addressed the increasingly complex and evolving international security challenges related to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia, the East and South China Seas, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, Myanmar, Libya and Iran.
They also explored the need to bolster conflict-prevention efforts, respond more effectively to humanitarian crises, and strengthen measures to counter the spread of violent extremism.
Encouraging diversity, inclusion, and gender equality
Canada’s approach to international challenges is shaped by its domestic policy, in particular by its determination to build a more diverse and inclusive society. Canada believes that diversity, inclusion, and gender equality must guide our work to respond – at home and abroad – to the complex and evolving threats against our security, our democratic institutions, and, most importantly, our people.
Canada recognizes the need to strengthen our global cooperation and collaboration to deliver meaningful results for our citizens and vulnerable people around the world, particularly women and girls. Canada’s focus is on championing human rights, upholding democratic principles, and building a more peaceful and secure world for the benefit of future generations.
G7 ministerial meetings
Guided by shared values and principles, Canada and its G7 partners recognize the importance of working together to build a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Canada strongly supports a rules-based international order, built around the core principles of democracy, gender equality and human rights, the rule of law, territorial integrity, and free and open trade that benefits all citizens, not just the wealthiest few.
From April 22 to 24, 2018, G7 foreign affairs and security ministers met in Toronto, Ontario, to discuss the theme of “Building a more peaceful and secure world.”
During the joint meeting, ministers discussed Russia, and how to reinforce democracy around the world by clearly identifying unacceptable actions and addressing behaviour designed to destabilize and interfere in democratic systems, including through digital technologies. They also discussed the need to manage the risks associated with foreign terrorist fighters and associated travelers.
In a separate meeting, G7 foreign ministers exchanged views on the need to coordinate action to build a more peaceful and secure world based on respect for gender equality and human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy, and the rule of law.
They discussed:
- A rules-based international order
- Non-proliferation and disarmament
- Transnational threats to security
- Conflict prevention and support for United Nations efforts and reforms.
G7 foreign ministers committed to promoting the implementation of international humanitarian law. They also agreed to advance the G7 Women, Peace, and Security Partnership Initiative by coordinating efforts as appropriate and providing targeted support to conflict-affected countries in support of the women, peace, and security agenda. Members of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency also participated in the meetings, offering important perspectives on how G7 countries can move toward achieving gender equality.
G7 security ministers also discussed developing clear approaches to strengthen our security and protect our values as democratic nations. They committed to take action to:
- Manage domestic threats
- Counter violent extremism
- Prevent violent extremist and terrorist use of the internet
- Improve cyber security and fight against cybercrime
- Eliminate trafficking in persons.
The actions agreed to by G7 foreign affairs and security ministers during these meetings are outlined in the various commitments made by the ministers in Toronto.
THE CHARLEVOIX G7 SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE
1. We, the Leaders of the G7, have come together in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada on June 8–9, 2018, guided by our shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and our commitment to promote a rules-based international order. As advanced economies and leading democracies, we share a fundamental commitment to investing in our citizens and meeting their needs and to responding to global challenges. We collectively affirm our strong determination to achieve a clean environment, clean air and clean water. We are resolved to work together in creating a healthy, prosperous, sustainable and fair future for all.
Investing in Growth that Works for Everyone
2. We share the responsibility of working together to stimulate sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone and, in particular, those most at risk of being left behind. We welcome the contribution of technological change and global integration to global economic recovery and increased job creation. The global economic outlook continues to improve, but too few citizens have benefited from that economic growth. While resilience against risk has improved among emerging market economies, recent market movements remind us of potential vulnerabilities. We will continue monitoring market developments and using all policy tools to support strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth that generates widespread prosperity. We reaffirm our existing exchange rate commitments. We commit to promoting smart, sustainable and high-quality investments, such as in infrastructure, to boost growth and productivity and create quality jobs. Economic growth is fundamental to raising living standards. We also recognize that economic output alone is insufficient for measuring success and acknowledge the importance of monitoring other societal and economic indicators that measure prosperity and well-being. We are committed to removing the barriers that keep our citizens, including women and marginalized individuals, from participating fully in the global economy. We endorse the Charlevoix Commitment on Equality and Economic Growth, which reinforces our commitment to eradicate poverty, advance gender equality, foster income equality, ensure better access to financial resources and create decent work and quality of life for all.
3. In order to ensure that everyone pays their fair share, we will exchange approaches and support international efforts to deliver fair, progressive, effective and efficient tax systems. We will continue to fight tax evasion and avoidance by promoting the global implementation of international standards and addressing base erosion and profit shifting. The impacts of the digitalization of the economy on the international tax system remain key outstanding issues. We welcome the OECD interim report analyzing the impact of digitalization of the economy on the international tax system. We are committed to work together to seek a consensus-based solution by 2020.
4. We acknowledge that free, fair and mutually beneficial trade and investment, while creating reciprocal benefits, are key engines for growth and job creation. We recommit to the conclusions on trade of the Hamburg G20 Summit, in particular, we underline the crucial role of a rules-based international trading system and continue to fight protectionism. We note the importance of bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements being open, transparent, inclusive and WTO-consistent, and commit to working to ensure they complement the multilateral trade agreements. We commit to modernize the WTO to make it more fair as soon as possible. We strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies.
5. We will work together to enforce existing international rules and develop new rules where needed to foster a truly level playing field, addressing in particular non-market oriented policies and practices, and inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, such as forced technology transfer or cyber-enabled theft. We call for the start of negotiations – this year – to develop stronger international rules on market-distorting industrial subsidies and trade-distorting actions by state-owned enterprises. We also call on all members of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to fully and promptly implement its recommendations. We stress the urgent need to avoid excess capacity in other sectors such as aluminum and high technology. We call on the International Working Group on Export Credits to develop a new set of guidelines for government-supported export credits, as soon as possible in 2019.
6. To support growth and equal participation that benefits everyone, and ensure our citizens lead healthy and productive lives, we commit to supporting strong, sustainable health systems that promote access to quality and affordable healthcare and to bringing greater attention to mental health. We support efforts to promote and protect women’s and adolescents’ health and well-being through evidence-based healthcare and health information. We recognize the World Health Organization’s vital role in health emergencies, including through the Contingency Fund for Emergencies and the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, and emphasize their need for further development and continued and sustainable financing. We recommit to support our 76 partners to strengthen their implementation of the International Health Regulations, including through their development of costed national action plans and the use of diverse sources of financing and multi-stakeholder resources. We will prioritize and coordinate our global efforts to fight against antimicrobial resistance, in a “one health” approach. We will accelerate our efforts to end tuberculosis, and its resistant forms. We reconfirm our resolve to work with partners to eradicate polio and effectively manage the post-polio transition. We affirm our support for a successful replenishment of the Global Fund in 2019.
7. Public finance, including official development assistance and domestic resource mobilization, is necessary to work towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, but alone is insufficient to support the economic growth and sustainable development necessary to lift all populations from poverty. As a result, we have committed to the Charlevoix Commitment on Innovative Financing for Development to promote economic growth in developing economies and foster greater equality of opportunity within and between countries. We will continue to invest in quality infrastructure with open access. Given rising debt levels in low income countries and the importance of debt sustainability, we call for greater debt transparency not only from low income debtor countries, but also emerging sovereign lenders and private creditors. We support the ongoing work of the Paris Club, as the principal international forum for restructuring official bilateral debt, towards the broader inclusion of emerging creditors. We recognize the value in development and humanitarian assistance that promotes greater equality of opportunity, and gender equality, and prioritizes the most vulnerable, and will continue to work to develop innovative financing models to ensure that no one is left behind.
Preparing for Jobs of the Future
8. We are resolved to ensure that all workers have access to the skills and education necessary to adapt and prosper in the new world of work brought by innovation through emerging technologies. We will promote innovation through a culture of lifelong learning among current and future generations of workers. We will expand market-driven training and education, particularly for girls and women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. We recognize the need to remove barriers to women’s leadership and equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of the labour market, including by eliminating violence, discrimination and harassment within and beyond the workplace. We will explore innovative new approaches to apprenticeship and vocational learning, as well as opportunities to engage employers and improve access to workplace training.
9. We highlight the importance of working towards making social protection more effective and efficient and creating quality work environments for workers, including those in non-standard forms of work. Expanding communication and collaboration between governments and businesses, social partners, educational institutions and other relevant stakeholders will be essential for preparing workers to adapt and thrive in the new world of work. To realize the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), we endorse the Charlevoix Common Vision for the Future of Artificial Intelligence. We recognize that a human-centric approach to AI has the potential to introduce new sources of economic growth, bring significant benefits to our societies and help address some of our most pressing challenges.
Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
10. We recognize that gender equality is fundamental for the fulfillment of human rights and is a social and economic imperative. However, gender inequality persists despite decades of international commitments to eliminate these differences. We will continue to work to remove barriers to women’s participation and decision-making in social, economic and political spheres as well as increase the opportunities for all to participate equally in all aspects of the labour market. Our path forward will promote women’s full economic participation through working to reduce the gender wage gap, supporting women business leaders and entrepreneurs and recognizing the value of unpaid care work.
11. Equal access to quality education is vital to achieve the empowerment and equal opportunity of girls and women, especially in developing contexts and countries struggling with conflict. Through the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls, Adolescent Girls and Women in Developing Countries, we demonstrate our commitment to increase opportunities for at least 12 years of safe and quality education for all and to dismantle the barriers to girls’ and women’s quality education, particularly in emergencies and in conflict-affected and fragile states. We recognize that marginalized girls, such as those with a disability, face additional barriers in attaining access to education.
12. Advancing gender equality and ending violence against girls and women benefits all and is a shared responsibility in which everyone, including men and boys, has a critical role to play. We endorse the Charlevoix Commitment to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Abuse and Harassment in Digital Contexts, and are resolved to end all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. We strive for a future where individuals’ human rights are equally protected both offline and online; and where everyone has equal opportunity to participate in political, social, economic and cultural endeavors.
Building a More Peaceful and Secure World
13. We share a responsibility to build a more peaceful and secure world, recognizing that respect for human rights, the rule of law and equality of opportunity are necessary for lasting security and to enable economic growth that works for everyone. The global security threats we face are complex and evolving and we commit to working together to counter terrorism. We welcome the outcome of the international conference on the fight against terrorist financing, held in Paris April 25-26, 2018. Foreign terrorist fighters must be held accountable for their actions. We are committed to addressing the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, including as a tool for recruitment, training, propaganda and financing, and by working with partners such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. We underscore the importance of taking concrete measures to eradicate trafficking in persons, forced labour, child labour and all forms of slavery, including modern slavery.
14. Recognizing that countries that are more equal are also more stable, more peaceful and more democratic, we are resolved to strengthen the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Gender-sensitive measures that include women’s participation and perspectives to prevent and eradicate terrorism are vital to effective and sustainable results, protection from sexual and gender-based violence, and preventing other human rights abuses and violations.
15. We commit to take concerted action in responding to foreign actors who seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security as outlined in the Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats. We recognize that such threats, particularly those originating from state actors, are not just threats to G7 nations, but to international peace and security and the rules-based international order. We call on others to join us in addressing these growing threats by increasing the resilience and security of our institutions, economies and societies, and by taking concerted action to identify and hold to account those who would do us harm.
16. We continue to call on North Korea to completely, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle all of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles as well as its related programs and facilities. We acknowledge recent developments, including North Korea’s announcement of a moratorium on nuclear testing and ballistic missile launches, a commitment to denuclearization made in the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration – assuming full implementation – and the apparent closure of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site on May 24; but we reiterate the importance of full denuclearization. The dismantlement of all of its WMD and ballistic missiles will lead to a more positive future for all people on the Korean Peninsula and a chance of prosperity for the people of North Korea, who have suffered for too long. However, more must be done and we call on all states to maintain strong pressure, including through the full implementation of relevant UNSCRs, to urge North Korea to change its course and take decisive and irreversible steps. In this context, we once again call upon North Korea to respect the human rights of its people and resolve the abductions issue immediately
17. We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing behaviour to undermine democratic systems and its support of the Syrian regime. We condemn the attack using a military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury, United Kingdom. We share and agree with the United Kingdom’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation was responsible for the attack, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. We urge Russia to live up to its international obligations, as well as its responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to uphold international peace and security. Notwithstanding, we will continue to engage with Russia on addressing regional crises and global challenges, where it is in our interests. We reiterate our condemnation of the illegal annexation of Crimea and reaffirm our enduring support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally-recognized borders. We maintain our commitment to assisting Ukraine in implementing its ambitious and necessary reform agenda. We recall that the continuation of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia’s failure to demonstrate complete implementation of its commitments in the Minsk Agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and we fully support the efforts within the Normandy Format and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for a solution to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Should its actions so require, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase costs on Russia. We remain committed to support Russian civil society and to engage and invest in people-to-people contact.
18. We strongly condemn the murderous brutality of Daesh and its oppression of civilian populations under its control. As an international community, we remain committed to the eradication of Daesh and its hateful ideology. In Syria, we also condemn the repeated and morally reprehensible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and by Daesh. We call on the supporters of the regime to ensure compliance with its obligation to declare and dismantle remaining chemical weapons. We deplore the fact that Syria assumed the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament in May, given its consistent and flagrant disregard of international non-proliferation norms and agreements. We reaffirm our collective commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and call on all states to support the upcoming Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Special Conference of States Parties and to work together to strengthen the ability of the OPCW to promote the implementation of the Convention. We call upon those who have yet to do so to join the International Partnership Against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons. We call for credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance in Syria, facilitated by free and fair elections held to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate.
19. We remain concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that could escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the international rules-based order. We urge all parties to pursue demilitarization of disputed features. We are committed to taking a strong stance against human rights abuse, human trafficking and corruption across the globe, especially as it impacts vulnerable populations, and we call upon the international community to take strong action against these abuses all over the world. We welcome the recent commitments made by Myanmar and we pledge to coordinate efforts to build lasting peace and support democratic transition in Myanmar, particularly in the context of the ongoing Rohingya crisis, to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access and the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees and displaced people. We are deeply concerned about the lack of respect for human rights and basic democratic principles in Venezuela, as well as the spiraling economic crisis and its humanitarian repercussions. We express our concern at the continuous deterioration of the situation in Yemen and renew our call for all parties to fully comply with international humanitarian law and human rights law.
20. Recognizing the threat Iran’s ballistic missile program poses to international peace and security, we call upon Iran to refrain from launches of ballistic missiles and all other activities which are inconsistent with UNSCR 2231 – including all annexes – and destabilizing for the region, and cease proliferation of missile technology. We are committed to permanently ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful, in line with its international obligations and commitments to never seek, develop or acquire a nuclear weapon. We condemn all financial support of terrorism including terrorist groups sponsored by Iran. We also call upon Iran to play a constructive role by contributing to efforts to counter terrorism and achieve political solutions, reconciliation and peace in the region.
21. We remain concerned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially in the light of recent events. We support the resumption without delay of substantive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians aimed at achieving a negotiated solution that ensures the peace and security for both parties. We stress the importance of addressing as soon as possible the dire and deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in the Gaza strip.
22. Africa’s security, stability, and sustainable development are high priorities for us, and we reiterate our support for African-led initiatives, including at a regional level. We reiterate our commitment to work in partnership with the African continent, supporting the African Union Agenda 2063 in order to realize Africa’s potential. We will promote African capabilities to better prevent, respond to, and manage crisis and conflicts; and to strengthen democratic institutions. We reiterate our commitment to the stabilization, unity and democracy of Libya, which is key for the stability of the Mediterranean region and of Europe. We support the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Salamé in pursuing an inclusive political process founded on his Action Plan and we encourage all Libyan and regional actors to uphold their constructive engagement as outlined in the June 6, 2018 statement of the President of the Security Council on Libya. We support the efforts of the Presidency Council for Libya and the Libyan Government of National Accord to consolidate State institutions.
Working Together on Climate Change, Oceans and Clean Energy
23. A healthy planet and sustainable economic growth are mutually beneficial, and therefore, we are pursuing global efforts towards a sustainable and resilient future that creates jobs for our citizens. We firmly support the broad participation and leadership of young people, girls and women in promoting sustainable development. We collectively affirm our strong determination to achieve a clean environment, clean air, clean water and healthy soil. We commit to ongoing action to strengthen our collective energy security and demonstrate leadership in ensuring that our energy systems continue to drive sustainable economic growth. We recognise that each country may chart its own path to achieving a low-emission future. We look forward to adopting a common set of guidelines at UNFCCC COP 24.
24. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union reaffirm their strong commitment to implement the Paris Agreement, through ambitious climate action; in particular through reducing emissions while stimulating innovation, enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening and financing resilience and reducing vulnerability; as well as ensuring a just transition, including increasing efforts to mobilize climate finance from a wide variety of sources. We discussed the key role of energy transitions through the development of market based clean energy technologies and the importance of carbon pricing, technology collaboration and innovation to continue advancing economic growth and protect the environment as part of sustainable, resilient and low-carbon energy systems; as well as financing adaptive capacity. We reaffirm the commitment that we have made to our citizens to reduce air and water pollution and our greenhouse gas emissions to reach a global carbon-neutral economy over the course of the second half of the century. We welcome the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a resolution titled Towards a Global Pact for the Environment and look forward to the presentation of a report by the Secretary General in the next General Assembly.
25. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union will promote the fight against climate change through collaborative partnerships and work with all relevant partners, in particular all levels of government; local, Indigenous, remote coastal and small island communities; as well as with the private sector, international organizations and civil society to identify and assess policy gaps, needs and best practices. We recognize the contribution of the One Planet conferences to this collective effort.
26. The United States believes sustainable economic growth and development depends on universal access to affordable and reliable energy resources. It commits to ongoing action to strengthen the world’s collective energy security, including through policies that facilitates open, diverse, transparent, liquid and secure global markets for all energy sources. The United States will continue to promote energy security and economic growth in a manner that improves the health of the world’s oceans and environment, while increasing public-private investments in energy infrastructure and technology that advances the ability of countries to produce, transport, and use all available energy sources based on each country’s national circumstances. The United States will endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently and help deploy renewable and other clean energy sources, given the importance of energy access and security in their Nationally Determined Contributions. The United States believes in the key role of energy transitions through the development of market-based clean energy technologies and the importance of technology collaboration and innovation to continue advancing economic growth and protect the environment as part of sustainable, resilient, and clean energy systems. The United States reiterates its commitment to advancing sustainable economic growth, and underscores the importance of continued action to reduce air and water pollution.
27. Recognizing that healthy oceans and seas directly support the livelihoods, food security and economic prosperity of billions of people, we met with the heads of state or government of the Argentina, Bangladesh, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Marshall Islands, Norway, Rwanda (Chair of the African Union), Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Vietnam, and the heads of the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD, to discuss concrete actions to protect the health of marine environments and ensure a sustainable use of marine resources as part of a renewed agenda to increase global biodiversity protection. We endorse the Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, and will improve oceans knowledge, promote sustainable oceans and fisheries, support resilient coasts and coastal communities and address ocean plastic waste and marine litter. Recognizing that plastics play an important role in our economy and daily lives but that the current approach to producing, using, managing and disposing of plastics and poses a significant threat to the marine environment, to livelihoods and potentially to human health, we the Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union endorse the Ocean Plastics Charter.
Conclusion
28. We share the responsibility of working together to stimulate sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone, in particular, those most at risk of being left behind. We would like to thank our citizens, civil society, the Gender Equality Advisory Council, the Formal G7 Engagement Groups and other partners for their meaningful input to Canada’s presidency. We welcome the offer of the President of France to host our next Summit in 2019 and his pledge to continue G7 leadership on our common agenda.
CHARLEVOIX COMMITMENT ON EQUALITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
We, the Leaders of the G7, are committed to working together to maximize the economic prosperity of our citizens. In recent years the global economy has strengthened amid rapid technological change, deeper global economic integration and increased job creation. At the same time, too many citizens have not benefited from that economic growth.
A key challenge facing G7 economies is to make sure that every citizen has a real and fair chance to contribute to, and share in, economic success. Inequality can undermine confidence, social cohesion and growth, especially when disadvantaged groups are unable to realize their potential and contribute fully.
While economic growth is fundamental to raising living standards, we recognize that there is a need to broaden how we look at social and economic progress, capturing a more holistic picture of the challenges facing people in their daily lives than we are able to see today through traditional measures like Gross Domestic Product. It is important to consider the broad issues facing each of our economies: whether workers are equipped to keep up with the demands of a changing labour market, whether everyone who wants a job can get it, and whether available work is decent, well-paying and provides equal opportunities for women and men as well as disadvantaged groups and those facing discrimination.
Removing the barriers that keep people from participating fully in the global economy and addressing the root causes of gender inequality is essential to reduce poverty, foster growth and create quality jobs and decent work for all. The creativity and productivity of people who have been economically marginalized, especially women, are important to sustainable and resilient economies.
Putting in place and reinforcing the conditions for economic growth that works for everyone requires cooperation with the private sector, social partners and other key stakeholders, active sharing of knowledge and best practices about innovative approaches and openness to new methods of skill formation and forms of employment, an understanding of the different impacts that policies have on women and men, and a focus on people and the unique and diverse realities they face.
The emergence of new technologies holds the potential to bring us closer together, improve our quality of life and make the world a better place. However, they also present new challenges for promoting growth that works for everyone. We must help ensure that groups often underrepresented in high growth areas like science and technology are fully included, that workers have the skills and training for jobs now and in the future, and thereby our economies are stronger and more competitive.
To address inequalities in society, bolster public confidence and economic integration, and better prepare for technological change, we commit to:
- Consider measures of economic prosperity that reflect broad dimensions of well-being, including:
- Skills development and training, for example as reflected by the employment to population ratio by skill level.
- Support for children and families, as reflected by the child poverty rate.
- Opportunity for all citizens to get ahead, as reflected by the incomes and opportunities for education within families across generations, for example access to early learning.
- Full economic participation, as reflected by the employment to population ratio; the participation gap between women and men; the incidence of involuntary part-time work; and the gender wage gap.
- Broader sharing of the benefits of growth as reflected by the level and growth of real median incomes by households and individuals disaggregated by sex and age, as appropriate.
- Promote smart, sustainable and quality infrastructure investments with open access to boost growth and productivity and create quality jobs.
- Adapt labour market policies and programs and share best practices to ensure workers are well prepared for changes in technology and job demands, and are able to access learning opportunities as they need them over their work life. This includes lifelong learning and efforts to further strengthen investments in job training and expanding opportunities for apprenticeship and vocational learning.
- Create an economic environment that is conducive to the private sector, innovation and competition as sources of long-term growth.
- Foster collaboration with businesses, civil society organizations and educational partners, so that education, workforce development and domestic policy keep pace with technological change and follow the changing needs of the labour market.
- Investing in digital literacy, foundational and social skills; as well as consider adapting social protection systems to support those in non-standard forms of work.
- Create or maintain effective and efficient tax systems that reduce inequality and support participation in the labour market.
- Share approaches and support global efforts to make the tax system fair to everyone and facilitate tax collection by addressing base erosion and profit shifting and other forms of tax avoidance and continuing to work on tax capacity building to advance sustainable development. Further, we will promote the global implementation of international standards regarding financial accounts and beneficial ownership in order to fight tax evasion – along with corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Further support families by promoting high quality childcare that is accessible and affordable, and improve access to child benefits and parental leave.
- Encourage private, state-owned companies and public employers to take measures to facilitate the reconciliation of work and care responsibilities for both women and men, and to increase efforts to reduce the gender pay gap.
- Support gender equality in labour market opportunities and in the distribution of unpaid care work, with measures such as paid maternity leave and parental leave, as well as initiatives to ensure women’s equal access to decent employment opportunities, leadership opportunities, resources and finance.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to introduce new sources of economic growth, bring significant benefits to our societies and help address some of our most pressing challenges including safeguarding human rights, achieving gender equality, feeding a growing global population, improving the health of our citizens, empowering the elderly and citizens with disabilities, increasing participation in the workforce, countering harmful bias and supporting inclusive societies. Realizing the broad potential of AI technologies will require thoughtful investments in entrepreneurship, research, education and the labour market to respond to the associated societal impacts, to adapt to changes in demand for skills, and to promote relevant skills and knowledge for the jobs of the future.
AI that fosters economic growth, societal trust, gender equality and inclusion depends on a predictable and stable policy environment that promotes innovation, as recognized by the 2018 G7 Montreal Ministerial Statement on Artificial Intelligence, and the multi-stakeholder, human-centric vision outlined in the 2017 G7 ICT and Industry Ministers’ Torino Declaration.
We, the Leaders of the G7, commit to:
- Endeavour to promote human-centric AI and commercial adoption of AI, and continue to advance appropriate technical, ethical and technologically neutral approaches by: safeguarding privacy including through the development of appropriate legal regimes; investing in cybersecurity, the appropriate enforcement of applicable privacy legislation and communication of enforcement decisions; informing individuals about existing national bodies of law, including in relation to how their personal data may be used by AI systems; promoting research and development by industry in safety, assurance, data quality, and data security; and exploring the use of other transformative technologies to protect personal privacy and transparency.
- Promote investment in research and development in AI that generates public trust in new technologies, and encourage industry to invest in developing and deploying AI that supports economic growth and women’s economic empowerment while addressing issues related to accountability, assurance, liability, security, safety, gender and other biases and potential misuse.
- Support lifelong learning, education, training and reskilling, and exchange information on workforce development for AI skills, including apprenticeships, computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, especially for women, girls and those at risk of being left behind.
- Support and involve women, underrepresented populations and marginalized individuals as creators, stakeholders, leaders and decision-makers at all stages of the development and implementation of AI applications.
- Facilitate multistakeholder dialogue on how to advance AI innovation to increase trust and adoption and to inform future policy discussions.
- Support efforts to promote trust in the development and adoption of AI systems with particular attention to countering harmful stereotypes and fostering gender equality. Foster initiatives that promote safety and transparency, and provide guidance on human intervention in AI decision-making processes.
- Promote the use of AI applications by companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises and companies from non-tech sectors.
- Promote active labour market policies, workforce development and reskilling programs to develop the skills needed for new jobs and for those at risk of being left out, including policies specifically targeting the needs of women and underrepresented populations in order to increase labour participation rates for those groups.
- Encourage investment in AI technology and innovation to create new opportunities for all people, especially to give greater support and options for unpaid caregivers, the majority of whom today are women.
- Encourage initiatives, including those led by industry, to improve digital security in AI and developing technologies, such as the Internet of Things and cloud services, as well as through the development of voluntary codes of conduct, standards or guidelines and the sharing of best practices.
- Ensure AI design and implementation respect and promote applicable frameworks for privacy and personal data protection.
- Support an open and fair market environment including the free flow of information, while respecting applicable frameworks for privacy and data protection for AI innovation by addressing discriminatory trade practices, such as forced technology transfer, unjustified data localization requirements and source code disclosure, and recognizing the need for effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
CHARLEVOIX COMMON VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to introduce new sources of economic growth, bring significant benefits to our societies and help address some of our most pressing challenges including safeguarding human rights, achieving gender equality, feeding a growing global population, improving the health of our citizens, empowering the elderly and citizens with disabilities, increasing participation in the workforce, countering harmful bias and supporting inclusive societies. Realizing the broad potential of AI technologies will require thoughtful investments in entrepreneurship, research, education and the labour market to respond to the associated societal impacts, to adapt to changes in demand for skills, and to promote relevant skills and knowledge for the jobs of the future.
AI that fosters economic growth, societal trust, gender equality and inclusion depends on a predictable and stable policy environment that promotes innovation, as recognized by the 2018 G7 Montreal Ministerial Statement on Artificial Intelligence, and the multi-stakeholder, human-centric vision outlined in the 2017 G7 ICT and Industry Ministers’ Torino Declaration.
We, the Leaders of the G7, commit to:
- Endeavour to promote human-centric AI and commercial adoption of AI, and continue to advance appropriate technical, ethical and technologically neutral approaches by: safeguarding privacy including through the development of appropriate legal regimes; investing in cybersecurity, the appropriate enforcement of applicable privacy legislation and communication of enforcement decisions; informing individuals about existing national bodies of law, including in relation to how their personal data may be used by AI systems; promoting research and development by industry in safety, assurance, data quality, and data security; and exploring the use of other transformative technologies to protect personal privacy and transparency.
- Promote investment in research and development in AI that generates public trust in new technologies, and encourage industry to invest in developing and deploying AI that supports economic growth and women’s economic empowerment while addressing issues related to accountability, assurance, liability, security, safety, gender and other biases and potential misuse.
- Support lifelong learning, education, training and reskilling, and exchange information on workforce development for AI skills, including apprenticeships, computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, especially for women, girls and those at risk of being left behind.
- Support and involve women, underrepresented populations and marginalized individuals as creators, stakeholders, leaders and decision-makers at all stages of the development and implementation of AI applications.
- Facilitate multistakeholder dialogue on how to advance AI innovation to increase trust and adoption and to inform future policy discussions.
- Support efforts to promote trust in the development and adoption of AI systems with particular attention to countering harmful stereotypes and fostering gender equality. Foster initiatives that promote safety and transparency, and provide guidance on human intervention in AI decision-making processes.
- Promote the use of AI applications by companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises and companies from non-tech sectors.
- Promote active labour market policies, workforce development and reskilling programs to develop the skills needed for new jobs and for those at risk of being left out, including policies specifically targeting the needs of women and underrepresented populations in order to increase labour participation rates for those groups.
- Encourage investment in AI technology and innovation to create new opportunities for all people, especially to give greater support and options for unpaid caregivers, the majority of whom today are women.
- Encourage initiatives, including those led by industry, to improve digital security in AI and developing technologies, such as the Internet of Things and cloud services, as well as through the development of voluntary codes of conduct, standards or guidelines and the sharing of best practices.
- Ensure AI design and implementation respect and promote applicable frameworks for privacy and personal data protection.
- Support an open and fair market environment including the free flow of information, while respecting applicable frameworks for privacy and data protection for AI innovation by addressing discriminatory trade practices, such as forced technology transfer, unjustified data localization requirements and source code disclosure, and recognizing the need for effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
CHARLEVOIX COMMITMENT TO END SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE, ABUSE AND HARASSMENT IN DIGITAL CONTEXTS
All forms of sexual and gender-based violence, abuse, cyber-bullying and harassment are unacceptable and are an obstacle to a free and equal society. Technology has the potential to play an important role in advancing gender equality and empowering girls and women. However, the benefits offered may be undermined by the perpetuation of new forms of violence, abuse and harassment. Sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in digital contexts pose risks to the safety and well-being of its targets and can lead to self-censorship and disengagement from digital spaces at a time when these spaces increasingly animate our everyday life. All forms of violence, abuse and harassment can be significant barriers to closing the gender digital divide, to girls and women’s participation and to the development of digital skills. Girls and women are disproportionately affected by this violence, abuse and harassment. Those occupying positions of influence or defending human rights are at the forefront in addressing this growing problem and are often targeted, with a view to silencing their voices.
We, the Leaders of the G7, recognize the links between abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in a digital context and physical and psychological violence, abuse and harassment which are rooted in gender inequality. We strive for a future where the same human rights that individuals have offline are also protected online; and where everyone has equal opportunity to participate in political, social, economic, and cultural endeavors. We recognize the grave consequences that sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in digital contexts has for girls and women; and consistent with the G7 Roadmap for a Gender-responsive Economic Environment, we are committed to eliminating sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms.
To prevent and counter sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in digital contexts, we, the Leaders of the G7, commit to:
- Promote legal regimes, national anti-violence strategies, educational approaches and existing mechanisms, as appropriate, that keep pace with technological development.
- Work to strengthen sex and age-disaggregated data collection and publication, consistent with the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data, so as not to further marginalize those at risk.
- Strengthen the effectiveness of existing and new violence, abuse and harassment prevention and response strategies at international, national and local levels, ensuring that they are informed by gender-based analysis.
- Support awareness-raising initiatives on the gravity of sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in digital contexts, as well as on their impacts on civic discourse and the enjoyment of human rights.
- Share approaches and support global efforts aimed at addressing gender inequality and at preventing and countering sexual and gender-based based abuse, harassment, violence and threat of violence in physical and digital contexts.
- Mobilize the international community, including through working with the private sector, civil society and women’s rights organizations, to develop strategies to improve prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and the threat of violence in digital contexts and learn lessons from current models of industry-government collaboration on emerging digital challenges.
- Encourage everyone, particularly men and boys, to speak out strongly against sexual and gender-based violence, abuse, harassment and discrimination.
- Work together to improve our responses to breaches in data privacy and the criminal misuse of online platforms and connected technologies. We will ensure the appropriate confidentiality of survivor information and promote efforts to educate law enforcement, judges and other legal actors.
- Coordinate efforts and share best practices on preventing the misuse of the internet to facilitate trafficking in persons, recognizing that girls and women make up the majority of victims and survivors of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Support removing gender biases in the development of digital platforms and connected technologies from design to end-use.
CHARLEVOIX DECLARATION ON QUALITY EDUCATION FOR GIRLS, ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
We, the Leaders of the G7, recognize that gender equality is fundamental for the fulfillment of human rights. We placed women and girls at the heart of our G7 agenda because we know social development and sustainable economic growth depend on the full participation of everyone – girls, adolescent girls and women included. We know that inclusive, equitable quality education is fundamental to achieving the empowerment and economic equality of girls and women, especially in developing contexts and countries struggling with conflict. From the earliest years to the end of secondary school and into post-secondary, education, equal opportunities and modern skills are essential to a better life for individuals and society as a whole. A quality education promotes peace and security and drives improved health and life outcomes. We support education, through our development and humanitarian assistance, that aspires to achieve gender equality. We will work to address barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing education and improve the futures of girls and women in developing countries and crisis situations—because we know this is fundamental to building a better world for all.
We recognize with alarm that at the end of 2016, globally there were 65.5 million forcibly displaced people, over half of whom were under 18, with little to no access to quality education and learning opportunities. For millions of young people, these are the years they should be spending in school, acquiring literacy, numeracy and, ultimately, transferable job skills to allow them to sustain themselves and their families as adults. Instead, they are facing an uncertain future. Girls are disproportionately affected, are more likely to be taken out of school due to displacement-related poverty, are forced to marry early and face sexual and gender-based violence. Girls with disabilities are especially marginalized and particular focus is needed to integrate them into the mainstream of development. Addressing these factors and restoring access to education for all children and youth in conflict and crisis situations, with the shortest delay possible, can pave the way for economic empowerment and a better future.
We, the Leaders of the G7, view girls’ and women’s education as a priority and will continue investing in girls’, adolescent girls’ and women’s quality education in developing countries, including in emergencies and in conflict-affected and fragile states. Building on our existing efforts, we will work with our partners, including developing country governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector and global partnerships such as the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait, to increase equal access to quality education for girls and women. Throughout, we commit to ensuring that the voices of girls and women are included when making decisions on education and learning. We will further explore linkages between national and international initiatives relating to women, youth, peace and security; in particular, the UN Women, Peace and Security as well as Youth, Peace and Security Agendas.
We commit to:
1. Close the gap in access to education during conflict and crisis, and for refugees and the internally displaced, both inside and outside camps: We will work to reduce the time that conflict and crisis situations keep children and youth, especially girls, out of school. We will promote, with a view to improve, education opportunities and learning outcomes for refugees, internally-displaced and local girls and women, including in host and source communities.
2. Improve coordination between humanitarian assistance and development cooperation: We will partner with key humanitarian and development organizations and host governments to promote greater coordination among these organizations. We will ensure commitment to gender equality and prioritize improved access to quality education for girls and women in the early stages of humanitarian response and peacebuilding efforts, while supporting schools as safe spaces for children.
We, the Leaders of the G7, will continue to strengthen efforts to dismantle the barriers to girls’ and women’s education in developing countries. Our investments will support global actions to:
3. Prepare women for the jobs of the future: We will encourage increased access to quality post-secondary education, foster innovative delivery mechanisms and promote lifelong learning opportunities. Through support to various learning tools, including accessible, market-based skills training and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), we will seek to increase opportunities for women beyond lower-skilled jobs, including in high-growth, higher-wage sectors where women are underrepresented in the work force and in in-demand occupations, such as those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). We will continue our efforts to increase the number of adolescent girls and women that are technically and vocationally-educated and trained in developing countries. We will strive to overcome the gender digital divide and promote the participation of women in the digital economy.
4. Improve sex- and age-disaggregated data and accountability: We will work with Sustainable Development Goal 4, 5 and 8 statistical accountability partners to improve the collection, monitoring, analysis, publication and reporting of progress in girls’ and women’s education participation, completion and learning, training and youth employment.
5. Encourage governments to ensure continuity of education for all: We will encourage the integration of specific measures for girls’ education throughout the education sector plans of our development partners, including planning in anticipation of crisis and conflict situations. We will support schools that provide safe and accessible environments for learning. Not only is school necessary for their continued education in crisis and conflict zones, it provides them with emotional and physical protection while their world is in chaos.
6. Support innovative education delivery: For especially vulnerable and hard to reach groups, we will support accredited, quality, non-formal and accelerated equal education opportunities which complement formal education. These opportunities create pathways to formal education for girls and women, including those affected by crisis and conflict, and support their attainment of secondary or higher-education degrees.
7. Increase access to at least 12 years of safe and quality education that promotes gender equality: We will support developing country partners in their efforts to provide equal opportunities for girls and women to complete at least 12 years of quality education from their early years through to secondary school. We will ensure that girls learn basic literacy and numeracy skills in order to progress through education. We will support efforts to promote gender equality in education systems, in part through capacity building throughout the education sector, particularly through teacher training and the recruitment and retention of both female and male qualified teachers with decent pay. We will support gender-sensitive curricula and learning materials that meet quality education standards and promote learning. We support healthcare education which empowers adolescents to avoid sexual risks and prevents early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, thereby improving the opportunity to thrive into adulthood. We will work to increase access to schools and learning pathways for girls and women, including those who are especially vulnerable and often excluded from school, such as girls with disabilities. We will encourage work with teachers and communities to eliminate violence in schools and support gender equality and healthy relationship development.
8. Remove barriers to gender equality and to quality primary and secondary education: We will support actions to make schools and education institutions safe and welcoming for girls and women, including through investments in secure schools. We recognize the importance of safe transportation in crisis and conflict zones. We will support actions to improve access to nutritious foods, eliminate female genital mutilation and end child, early and forced marriage. We will promote access to appropriate healthcare and evidenced-based health information to help girls stay in school. We will support actions that educate parents, caregivers and communities on the value of girls’ education, addressing the opportunity cost of not schooling. We will work to promote incentives for the underserved to defray the costs of schooling in order to keep girls in school.
CHARLEVOIX BLUEPRINT FOR HEALTHY OCEANS, SEAS AND RESILIENT COASTAL COMMUNITIES
The health of our oceans and seas is critical to the economic, social and environmental well-being of the planet. Oceans and seas play a fundamental role in the global climate system and in supporting communities, jobs and livelihoods, food security, human health, biodiversity, economic prosperity and way of life.
Oceans and seas; however, are facing many challenges. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and overexploitation of fish stocks threaten entire species and food security. Marine pollution, including from plastic litter, is compounding the threats facing already degraded marine ecosystems. As set out in The Charlevoix G7 Summit Communique, ocean warming, acidification and sea-level rise, together with extreme weather events, are affecting communities globally. Arctic and low-lying coastal communities, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS), are among the most vulnerable.
We, the Leaders of the G7, underscore the importance of engaging and supporting all levels of government to develop and implement effective and innovative solutions. We will promote collaborative partnerships and work with all relevant partners, in particular local, Indigenous, remote coastal and small island communities, as well as with the private sector, international organizations and civil society to identify and assess policy gaps, needs and best practices. This path forward will support the leadership and empowerment of women and youth as agents of positive change.
Recognizing the direct impact of global temperature rise on oceans, with this Blueprint we are pursuing global efforts towards a sustainable and climate-resilient future, in particular reducing emissions while stimulating innovation and economic growth, enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change while ensuring a just transition to the broad participation of women and girls, both at home and in our commitment to support developing countries.Footnote 1
Recognizing the need for action in line with previous G7 commitments and the 2030 Agenda, which sets a global framework for sustainable development, we, the Leaders of the G7, commit to:
Resilient Coasts and Coastal Communities
- Support better adaptation planning, emergency preparedness and recovery: We will work in partnership across multiple sectors to identify and assess policy gaps, vulnerabilities, risks and needs, and share lessons learned and expertise. We encourage the development of coastal management strategies to help plan and build back better, including through standards, best practices and provisions to rebuild natural and physical infrastructure, as appropriate. Our efforts will support resilient and quality infrastructure in coasts and coastal communities, particularly in SIDS. This will include advancing the development and deployment of clean and resilient energy systems, including from renewable sources. Where appropriate, we will advocate for and support nature-based solutions, such as the protection and rehabilitation of wetlands, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral reefs. To protect coastal communities, we will work to increase the capacity of these communities, particularly in SIDS, to generate and communicate effective early warnings of extreme weather and other geo-hazard related risks. To this end, we support early warning systems, including through efforts such as the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative, which aims to build the capacity of Least Developed Countries and SIDS. We will develop gender-sensitive planning strategies that integrate economic growth, adaptation, sustainable development, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and disaster risk reduction. In ensuring more inclusive, comprehensive approaches, we will support women’s equal participation in decision-making for disaster risk reduction and recovery. Looking ahead to a brighter economic future, we will promote income-generating activities in coastal communities, such as sustainable tourism.
- Support innovative financing for coastal resilience: Mobilize greater support for increasing financial resources available to build coastal resilience, particularly in developing countries, and exploring new and innovative financing with national and international public and private sector partners. To explore these innovative financing approaches and tools, we will build on existing platforms for governments, industry, philanthropists and institutional investors. We will explore broadening disaster risk insurance coverage, including through global and regional facilities, such as the InsuResilience Global Partnership, to extend high quality insurance coverage to vulnerable developing countries and beneficiaries in need and to encourage new types of insurance products for emerging risks. We welcome research, monitoring and gender analysis to increase both the range of insurance products and women’s access to financial resources for disaster risk management and recovery.
- Launch a joint G7 initiative to deploy Earth observation technologies and related applications to scale up capacities for the integrated management of coastal zones: We intend to leverage innovation in the field of Earth observation technologies and related applications and make them broadly available in the poorest and most vulnerable regions of the world in order to support disaster risk prevention, contingency planning, spatial planning, infrastructure and building design, early warning systems and risk transfer mechanisms. We ask the forthcoming G7 Ministerial meetings in Halifax to work to present new actions in this area.
Ocean Knowledge: Science and Data
- Increase the availability and sharing of science and data: Recognizing the value of ocean science, observation and seabed mapping, we will expand global observation and tracking efforts. Through enhanced global monitoring of oceans, and coordinating access to ocean science information, we will significantly improve the availability of data. We encourage the collection, analysis, dissemination and use of gender-sensitive data to bridge gaps in understanding the way women and girls are impacted by risks and catastrophic events, and how they can be engaged in developing and implementing solutions.
Sustainable Oceans and Fisheries
- Address IUU fishing and other drivers of overexploitation of fish stocks: We will work globally to build stronger public-private partnerships with key countries and technology providers to deploy innovative platforms and technology to identify vessels that engage in, and those that support, IUU fishing. A key effort will be the implementation of unique vessel identification scheme of the International Maritime Organization for all eligible vessels fishing on the high seas. Further, we will strengthen existing regional fisheries networks and launch new networks in needed areas in partnership with INTERPOL and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), in accordance with their respective competencies, to share information and best practices, and develop new tools to eliminate IUU fishing. Our partnerships will leverage the agency, leadership and participation of women in developing strategies for marine conservation through inclusive planning and implementation, capacity building and improved access to information for women. We will also work to address the myriad of other challenges facing sustainable fishing, including by: promoting global adoption and implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate IUU Fishing, including through supporting capacity building on effective implementation of the Agreement; promoting coordinated action to address forced labour and other forms of work that violate or abuse human rights in the fishing sector that can also be related to IUU fishing; prohibiting harmful fish subsidies that contribute to overfishing and IUU fishing and collectively addressing this through effective disciplines in the World Trade Organization (WTO); supporting the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Catch Documentation Schemes; and promoting innovation for fishing gear design and recovery to prevent its loss or abandonment. We will also support the implementation of the Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels, and Supply Vessels by providing our Phase 1 vessel data as soon as possible.
- Support strategies to effectively protect and manage vulnerable areas of our oceans and resources: We will advance efforts beyond the current 2020 Aichi targets including, the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) where appropriate and practicable and contribute towards these objectives, the sustainable management of fisheries and the adoption of marine spatial planning processes. We will further advocate for the creation and implementation of effective and science-based MPAs and area-based conservation measures, in close alignment with relevant international frameworks, including in the high seas. We acknowledge efforts to develop an effective and universal international legally-binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction in line with resolution UNGA 72/249.
Ocean Plastic Waste and Marine Litter
We recognise the urgency of the threat of ocean plastic waste and marine litter to ecosystems and the lost value of plastics in the waste stream. We commit to building on previous G7 commitments and taking a lifecycle approach to plastics stewardship on land and at sea, moving towards a more resource efficient and sustainable management of plastics. Further, we will promote the harmonization of monitoring methodologies for marine litter and collaboration on research on its impacts, in cooperation, for example with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to facilitate this work.
We ask Ministers to further elaborate on this work at their meeting in Halifax.
Annex: Ocean Plastics Charter
Plastics are one of the most revolutionary inventions of the past century and play an important role in our economy and daily lives. However, the current approach to producing, using, managing and disposing of plastics poses a significant threat to the environment, to livelihoods and potentially to human health. It also represents a significant loss of value, resources and energy.
We, the Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, commit to move toward a more resource-efficient and sustainable approach to the management of plastics. We resolve to take a lifecycle approach to plastics stewardship on land and at sea, which aims to avoid unnecessary use of plastics and prevent waste, and to ensure that plastics are designed for recovery, reuse, recycling and end-of-life management to prevent waste through various policy measures. We endeavor to increase the efficient use of resources while strengthening waste diversion systems and infrastructure to collect and process plastic materials and recapture the value of plastics in the economy, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing waste and litter from being released into the environment. We seek to stimulate innovation for sustainable solutions, technologies and alternatives across the lifecycle to enable consumers and businesses to change their behaviour. We will work to mobilize and support collaborative government, industry, academia, citizen and youth-led initiatives. We also recognize the need for action in line with previous G7 commitments and the 2030 Agenda, which sets a global framework for sustainable development.
We commit to take action toward a resource-efficient lifecycle management approach to plastics in the economy by:
- Sustainable design, production and after-use markets
- Working with industry towards 100% reusable, recyclable, or, where viable alternatives do not exist, recoverable, plastics by 2030.
- Taking into account the full environmental impacts of alternatives, significantly reducing the unnecessary use of single-use plastics.
- Using green public procurement to reduce waste and support secondary plastics markets and alternatives to plastic.
- Working with industry towards increasing recycled content by at least 50% in plastic products where applicable by 2030.
- Supporting secondary markets for plastics including using policy measures and developing international incentives, standards or requirements for product stewardship, design and recycled content.
- Working with industry towards reducing the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetic and personal care consumer products, to the extent possible by 2020, and addressing other sources of microplastics.
- Collection, management and other systems and infrastructure
- Working with industry and other levels of government, to recycle and reuse at least 55% of plastic packaging by 2030 and recover 100% of all plastics by 2040.
- Increasing domestic capacity to manage plastics as a resource, prevent their leakage into the marine environment from all sources, and enable their collection, reuse, recycling, recovery and/or environmentally-sound disposal.
- Encouraging the application of a whole supply chain approach to plastic production toward greater responsibility and prevent unnecessary loss, including in pre-production plastic pellets.
- Accelerating international action and catalyzing investments to address marine litter in global hot spots and vulnerable areas through public-private funding and capacity development for waste and wastewater management infrastructure, innovative solutions and coastal clean-up.
- Working with relevant partners, in particular local governments, to advance efforts to reduce marine litter and plastics waste, notably but not exclusively in small island and remote communities, including through raising awareness.
- Sustainable lifestyles and education
- Strengthening measures, such as market-based instruments, to prevent plastics from entering the oceans, and strengthening standards for labelling to enable consumers to make sustainable decisions on plastics, including packaging.
- Supporting industry leadership initiatives and fostering knowledge exchange through existing alliances and other mechanisms.
- Promoting the leadership role of women and youth as promoters of sustainable consumption and production practices.
- Support platforms for information sharing to foster awareness and education efforts on preventing and reducing plastic waste generation, plastics pollution and eliminating marine litter.
- Research, innovation and new technologies
- Assessing current plastics consumption and undertaking prospective analysis on the level of plastic consumption by major sector use, while identifying and encouraging the elimination of unnecessary uses.
- Calling on G7 Ministers of Environment at their forthcoming meeting to advance new initiatives, such as a G7 Plastics Innovation Challenge, to promote research and development of new and more sustainable technologies, design or production methods by the private sector and innovators to address plastics waste in the oceans with a focus on all stages of the production and supply chain.
- Promoting the research, development and use of technologies to remove plastics and microplastics from waste water and sewage sludge.
- Guiding the development and appropriate use of new innovative plastic materials and alternatives to ensure they are not harmful to the environment.
- Harmonizing G7 science-based monitoring methodologies.
- Collaborating on research on the sources and fate of plastics and their impact on human and marine health.
- Coastal and shoreline action
- Encouraging campaigns on marine litter in G7 countries with youth and relevant partners to raise public awareness, collect data and remove debris from coasts and shorelines globally.
- Accelerating implementation of the 2015 G7 Leaders’ Action Plan to Combat Marine Litter through the Regional Seas Programs, initiatives led by RFMOs, where appropriate, and targeted investments for clean-up activities that prove to be environmentally sound in global hotspots and priority areas, in particular on Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gears (ALDFG) and wastes generated and collected by fishery activities.
1 - The United States strongly supports heathy oceans, seas and resilient coastal communities. The United States has announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and reserves on the climate related language in the Blueprint.
CHARLEVOIX COMMITMENT ON DEFENDING DEMOCRACY FROM FOREIGN THREATS
We, the Leaders of the G7, share common democratic values that are central to the development of free, open, well-governed, pluralistic and prosperous societies and recognize that equality is a core component of democracy. These democratic values are essential for generating broad-based economic growth that benefits everyone, creates quality jobs and ensures opportunities for all.
Democracy and the rules-based international order are increasingly being challenged by authoritarianism and the defiance of international norms. In particular, foreign actors seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security. These malicious, multi-faceted and ever-evolving tactics constitute a serious strategic threat which we commit to confront together, working with other governments that share our democratic values. Defending democracy will require us to adopt a strategic approach that is consistent with universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, our international commitments to peace and security, and that promotes equality. We welcome the work of G7 Foreign and Security Ministers in Toronto to establish a common understanding of unacceptable actions by foreign actors with the malicious intent of undermining our countries’ democratic systems as the basis for our collective and individual response.
We, the Leaders of the G7, commit to:
- Respond to foreign threats, both together and individually, in order to meet the challenges facing our democracies.
- Strengthen G7 cooperation to prevent, thwart and respond to malign interference by foreign actors aimed at undermining the democratic processes and the national interests of a G7 state.
- Establish a G7 Rapid Response Mechanism to strengthen our coordination to identify and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our democracies, including through sharing information and analysis, and identifying opportunities for coordinated response.
- Share lessons learned and best practices in collaboration with governments, civil society and the private sector that are developing related initiatives including those that promote free, independent and pluralistic media; fact-based information; and freedom of expression.
- Engage directly with internet service providers and social media platforms regarding malicious misuse of information technology by foreign actors, with a particular focus on improving transparency regarding the use and seeking to prevent the illegal use of personal data and breaches of privacy.
- Support public learning and civic awareness aimed at promoting critical thinking skills and media literacy on intentionally misleading information, and improving online security and safety.
- In accordance with applicable laws, ensure a high level of transparency around sources of funding for political parties and all types of political advertising, especially during election campaigns.
June 9, 2018. Canada and partners announce historic investment in education for women and girls in crisis and conflict situations
La Malbaie, Quebec - Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a top priority for Canada and its G7 Presidency. To make gender equality a reality, all women and girls around the world must have equal access to quality education and learning opportunities. When women and girls have an equal chance to learn, grow, and succeed, they help build an economy that works for everyone.
Canada, along with the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the World Bank, today announced an investment of close to $3.8 billion CAD, marking a fundamental shift toward improving access and reducing barriers to quality education around the world. Today’s announcement represents the single largest investment in education for women and girls in crisis and conflict situations. It has the potential to make a difference in the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable women and girls.
These investments will support global action to:
- Equip women and girls with the skills needed for the jobs of the future
- Improve training for teachers to provide better curriculum for women and girls
- Improve the quality of available data on women’s and girls’ education
- Promote greater coordination between humanitarian and development partners
- Support innovative education methods, especially for vulnerable and hard to reach groups, including refugees and displaced people
- Support developing countries in efforts to provide equal opportunities for girls to complete at least 12 years of quality education, from primary to secondary school
Canada will work with these partners along with others to support women’s and girls’ education around the world. They will also make sure the voices of women and girls are included when decisions are made on education and employment.
Quote
“We need to work together to ensure all women and girls have access to quality education and modern skills training. From primary school to secondary school and beyond, women and girls in crisis and conflict situations must have the same opportunities to succeed. Investing in their education is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. Given the chance, we know women and girls will drive positive change, and help build better lives for themselves, their families, their communities, and, in turn, the world.”
—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Quick Facts- Of the total funding announced today, international partners committed to make the following investments:
- Canada is investing $400 million CAD over three years, in addition to the $180 million we provided in January 2018 to the Global Partnership for Education for 2018-2020.
- The European Union is investing 72 million euros over three years.
- Germany is investing 75 million euros.
- Japan is investing $200 million USD in girl’s and women’s quality education, including in emergencies or in conflict-affected or fragile states.
- The United Kingdom is investing £187 million, which builds on Prime Minister May’s announcement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April when she pledged £212 million to get almost one million girls in developing countries across the Commonwealth learning.
- The World Bank is investing $2 billion USD over five years.
- In February 2018, France committed to provide 200 million euros to the Global Partnership for Education to support girls’ education and help strengthen education systems in developing countries.
- At the end of 2016, globally there were 65.5 million forcibly displaced people, over half of whom were under 18 years of age, with little to no access to quality education and learning opportunities.
- Girls are more likely to be taken out of school due to displacement-related poverty, more likely to be forced into early marriage, and are disproportionately affected by gender and sexual-based violence.
- Canada holds the G7 Presidency for 2018, and is advancing domestic and international priorities framed under the following five key themes:
- Investing in growth that works for everyone
- Preparing for jobs of the future
- Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment
- Working together on climate change, oceans, and clean energy
- Building a more peaceful and secure world
Davos, Switzerland - A more peaceful and prosperous world starts with a quality basic education. That is why the Government of Canada, as part of its Feminist International Assistance Policy, is committed to investing in education around the world, especially for girls.
Today, at the World Economic Forum’s annual general meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada will provide $180 million to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for 2018-2020. This pledge, a doubling of Canada’s current annual contribution to the GPE, will provide targeted support for girls’ education and help strengthen education systems in developing countries.
Canada has been a long standing supporter of the GPE’s development assistance, which helps children – especially the poorest, most vulnerable, and those living in fragile or conflict-affected countries – receive a quality basic education.
Canada’s investments help establish strong education systems that provide children and youth, particularly girls, with ten years of quality basic education. Our investments also help ensure that youth and adults, especially young women, have the knowledge and skills they need to secure a job and realize their full potential.
Quote
“Canada is committed to making sure young people around the world, especially girls, get the education they deserve. A quality basic education is one of the most important things we can do for children, and the path forward to a more gender equal, peaceful, prosperous world.”
—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Quick Facts- For the 2011-2014 and 2015-2018 periods, Canada’s contribution to the GPE was $57.6 million and $120 million, respectively.
- Canada was a founding member of the GPE’s predecessor, the Education for All - Fast Track Initiative, which built support among G7 donors during Canada’s 2002 Kananaskis Presidency.
- Multilaterally, Canada is the 10th largest bilateral donor to the GPE.
- Sixty-four per cent of the GPE’s partner countries had as many girls as boys completing primary school in 2015.
- With the pledges received during the 2018-2020 period, the GPE aims to help 19 million additional children to complete primary school, including 9.4 million girls and over 10.8 million children in countries affected by fragility or conflict; and, help 6.6 million additional children to complete lower secondary school, including 3.9 million girls and 3.9 million children in countries affected by fragility and conflict.
Global Partnership for Education: https://www.globalpartnership.org/
Education in developing countries: http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/human_rights-droits_homme/education.aspx?lang=eng
REPERCUSSION
The Globe and Mail 11 Jun 2018. SHOWDOWN. An angry Trump escalates trade dispute with auto tariffs threat. Freeland says Canada will stick to plan for retaliatory measures. Ottawa rejects continued U.S. push for NAFTA sunset clause. As trade war looms, G7 leaders, Canadian, U.S. politicians rally around Trudeau
ROBERT FIFE, OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
With reports from Associated Press
An all-out trade war looms as Donald Trump and his advisers lashed out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for declaring Canada won’t be “pushed around” by the U.S. President over the contentious tariff dispute on steel and aluminum.
An infuriated Mr. Trump called the Prime Minister “very dishonest and weak” on Twitter Saturday, threatened to impose tariffs on automobiles and dispatched top aides to U.S. network shows on Sunday to lambaste Mr. Trudeau as a “backstabber” who deserved a “special place in hell.”
In the wake of the confrontation, G7 leaders, Mr. Trudeau’s political opponents at home and a number of U.S. politicians rallied around the Prime Minister.
Mr. Trudeau avoided the media on Sunday, but Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Quebec City that Ottawa would not engage in a war of words with the Trump administration. Ms. Freeland spoke to U.S. Trade Representative Robert LightU.S. hizer on Sunday, and is expected to meet with him again on Wednesday in Washington.
“Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks. We don’t think that that is a useful or productive way to do business,” Ms. Freeland said. But she said Ottawa won’t be bullied and will hit back with $16-billion of retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. doesn’t rescind its penalties on steel and aluminum imposed last week.
“Our retaliatory tariffs will come into effect – perfectly reciprocal, perfectly measured, a dollar-for-dollar response – on July 1, which is Canada Day, perhaps not inappropriate,” she said.
Mr. Trump continued his Twitter attacks Monday on the Prime Minister, saying that “Justin acts hurt when called out.” The U.S. President also claimed that Canada had bragged about making “almost 100 Billion Dollars in Trade” with the United States, while failing to specify what document he was citing.
Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told CNN on Sunday that the President was furious after he left the G7 summit early and learned that Mr. Trudeau had told a wrap-up news conference that Canada would not be “pushed around.”
In an extraordinary assault on one of America‘s closest allies, Mr. Kudlow accused the Prime Minister of betraying the President and making him look weak on the eve of the historic summit with North Korea.
“He really kind of stabbed us in the back,” Mr. Kudlow said and emphasized that the President “is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around. … He is not going to permit any show of weakness on a trip to negotiate with North Korea. … Kim must not see American weakness.”
Mr. Trudeau, along with other G7 leaders, had endorsed the President’s gamble to denuclearize North Korea.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was even harsher, telling Fox News that there “was a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door and that is what Justin Trudeau did.”
In his Saturday tweet, Mr. Trump threatened to impose the same stiff tariffs on automobile exports from Canada and Europe – which would cripple the Canadian auto industry. Mr. Trump’s advisers warned that the North American free-trade deal was also in jeopardy.
“That was one of the worst political miscalculations in Canadian history,” Mr. Navarro said, while Mr. Kudlow added: “How many times has the President said ‘if you hit me, I will hit you back.’ ” A senior Canadian official said that Mr. Trump’s outburst came out of left field, since Mr. Trudeau had already announced reciprocal tariffs last week.
Canada is uncertain whether the dispute could lead to a trade war and is particularly concerned if the U.S. imposes tariffs on Canadian autos, which the official said would be disastrous for both countries.
Ms. Freeland brushed off the White House tirades and discounted the threat that NAFTA is dead.
Mr. Trump said on Saturday that a deal was “close” on a sunset clause that would reopen NAFTA after five years, but Mr. Trudeau later refuted the President, saying Canada could never agree to that provision.
“A trade deal with a sunset clause is not a trade deal and therefore we will not accept a sunset clause of five, ten or whatever duration that is proposed by the President,” Mr. Trudeau said.
The U.S.-Canada rift erupted after Mr. Trump left the G7 summit to head to his much-anticipated meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
At a news conference, Mr. Trudeau condemned the President’s steel and aluminum actions as destructive and even illegal. Mr. Trump was on Air Force One en route to that meeting in Singapore on Saturday when he fired off two blistering tweets.
He ordered U.S. officials to pull out of a joint G7 communiqué that spoke about fair and balanced trade and told them to examine the imposition of tariffs on foreign automobiles coming into the U.S. market.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ ” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The senior Canadian official said other G7 leaders have rallied behind Mr. Trudeau. Key U.S. politicians and Canadian political opponents are also backing the Prime Minister.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the G7 communiqué “via Twitter is of course sobering and a little depressing “and warned that Europe will forge ahead with reciprocal tariffs like Canada.
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said: “International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks.”
U.S. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein called Mr. Trump’s outburst “a big mistake,” while Republican Senator John McCain said the President’s behaviour toward his G7 allies was wrong.
Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, former prime minister Stephen Harper urged Mr. Trump to stop picking trade fights with Canada and join forces to push China to open its markets.
“Us fighting over our trade relationship when the Chinese have a four-to-one imbalance with both of us is, in my judgment, just the wrong priority,” he said.
NDP MP Charlie Angus called Mr. Trump a “small-minded man not fit for public office. Canada will not be pushed around by his circus-thug bluster.” Incoming Ontario Conservative premier Doug Ford said he “stood shoulder to shoulder” with Mr. Trudeau as did Alberta’s United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney.
Mr. Trump, who arrived late and left the G7 summit, in La Malbaie, Que., early, was unmoved by concerted efforts to persuade him to reverse his tariffs. He warned that Canadian and European reciprocal tariffs aimed at U.S. goods and services would be met with new levies.
“We are like the piggy bank that everyone is robbing and that ends,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Saturday.
Before departing for Singapore, Mr. Trump again called for Russia to be reinstated in the G7.
Mr. Harper, who led the charge to oust Russia from the G7 in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea, said President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed back into an alliance of liberal democracies.
“This is a man who kills his political opponents. There is not a place around an allied table for a man like that,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking in Quebec City after the G7 summit on Sunday, played down the U.S. President’s Twitter outburst and fears of an intensified trade war.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. Auto tariffs threat comes as U.S. investigates foreign-vehicle importsADRIAN MORROW, WASHINGTON
Mr. Trump has now made it harder for Mr. Trudeau to compromise at the bargaining table without appearing to have submitted to the President.
U.S. President Donald Trump is increasing his threat to levy 25-per-cent tariffs on car and truck imports, a move that would devastate Canada’s auto industry and unleash the country’s most serious trade war in recent memory.And the renegotiation of the North American freetrade agreement is stalled, with the sides at an impasse over some of the Trump administration’s toughest protectionist demands.
Auto levies represent the most immediate threat to Canada. The U.S. government is currently undertaking an “investigation” ordered by Mr. Trump to determine whether foreign vehicle imports represent a threat to “national security.” Tariffs would pummel $80-billion in Canadian exports, hitting a sector that employs more than 120,000 people. By comparison, the Canadian steel and aluminium sectors currently facing U.S. tariffs are roughly one-quarter the size.
Already locked in a trade battle with the United States over Mr. Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, Canada is facing a mounting threat of severe economic pain inflicted by its closest ally. The relationship between the Trudeau government and the Trump administration plummeted to new lows following the weekend G7 Summit.
The President upped the ante in a Twitter barrage aimed at Mr. Trudeau after the summit, threatening “Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!”
Flavio Volpe, the head of Canada’s auto-parts industry group, said the pain of the tariffs would first be felt by American drivers and auto sellers, because it would take time for auto plants to relocate from Canada to the United States. Ironically, he pointed out, most Canadian-made vehicles are manufactured by branch plants of American corporations using U.S. content.
“It would be a tariff paid for by American consumers who buy cars made mostly from American parts by American companies,” he said. “That’s a shotgun blast where no pellet is left unwasted. It would hit a lot of American feet.”
Also uncertain is the future of NAFTA. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland met with Mr. Trump’s trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, at the G7 to discuss the pact and is scheduled to see him again in Washington this week.
Negotiators have not been meeting regularly for weeks and have no plans to resume regular talks, said sources with knowledge of the bargaining. One source said a Mexican delegation, including some government officials and industry representatives, is expected in the U.S. capital next week to try to determine whether there is a path forward on a deal.
Late last month, Canadian officials told the Trump administration there were two U.S. demands they would never agree to in NAFTA: a sunset clause that would automatically terminate the deal in five years and the abolition of the Chapter 19 dispute resolution panels, one source said. Ottawa is willing to negotiate on every other contentious area, including automotive content rules, government procurement and Canada’s protectionist supply-management system for dairy.
Daniel Ujczo, an Ohio-based trade lawyer with Dickinson Wright, said the two countries could use a “cooling-off period” from the heated rhetoric of the last few days. After that, they could end the current trade war by agreeing to a guaranteed percentage of North American steel and aluminium in NAFTA’s auto-content rules, he said.
The trouble, however, is that Mr. Trump has now made it harder for Mr. Trudeau to compromise at the bargaining table without appearing to have submitted to the President.
“Americans are more used to people screaming at each other; I’m not sure if our Canadian brothers and sisters can get past it so easily,” he said. “The politics for the Prime Minister just got a lot more complicated.”
Mr. Ujczo said there is also a good chance Mr. Trump will roll out his proposed auto tariffs before the U.S. midterms in the fall. The move, however, would be so extreme that he argued congressional Republicans would rebel and force him to back down.
Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said he feared that Mr. Trump is deliberately setting the stage to start the process of pulling the United States out of NAFTA by “setting up a narrative” that Canada is cheating America. Under NAFTA, any country can withdraw after giving six months’ notice.
Mr. Heyman said there is no basis for Mr. Trump’s attitude toward Canada: The nearly $900-billion in annual trade is relatively balanced between the two countries – with a slight surplus in the United States’ favour.
“Canada is our closest ally, our best friend, our best trading partner in the world,” he said. “This is misplaced ire and fire by the President.”
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. The G7 photo that has everyone talking Image on Merkel’s Instagram account points to divide between Trump and rest of G7 over tariffs. Merkel’s image on Instagram appears to depict the defining confrontation of weekend meeting in Quebec
JEFF GRAY, TORONTO CITY HALL REPORTER
REUTERS. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stares down recalcitrant U.S. President Donald Trump during the second day of the Group of Seven meeting in La Malbaie, Que., on Saturday.
This Norman Rockwell-esque image, shared by Germany’s Information Ministry and posted on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s official Instagram account, quickly went viral. And no wonder, as it appeared to depict the defining confrontation of the weekend’s Group of Seven summit, the divide between U.S. President Donald Trump and the rest of the G7 leaders over Mr. Trump’s unilateral tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.Taken over the weekend at the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Que., the photo shows Ms. Merkel leaning over to stare down the recalcitrant U.S. President. Mr. Trump’s National Security Adviser, John Bolton, stands to Mr. Trump’s right. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his arms crossed, appears to stare at French President Emmanuel Macron, who is barely visible in the photo, but appears to be speaking.
Other photos taken of the discussion were soon released, by the White House and the offices of other leaders. One actually shows Ms. Merkel smiling at Mr. Trump. In another, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can be seen standing behind the U.S. President, smiling, with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland at his side. An altered version of the original image also soon made the rounds on social media, depicting Mr. Trump as a naughty toddler in a high chair and wearing a bib around his neck and a bowl of noodles on his head.
Despite the photo’s lionization of Ms. Merkel, it was Mr. Trudeau who would soon feel Mr. Trump’s erratic wrath. En route to his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after leaving the summit early, Mr. Trump used Twitter to declare Mr. Trudeau “dishonest and weak” after the Prime Minister reiterated Canada’s already announced plans to retaliate for Mr. Trump’s tariffs with levies on certain U.S. goods. On Sunday, key aides to Mr. Trump piled on in U.S. television interviews, accusing Mr. Trudeau of a “betrayal” and warning there was a “special place in hell” for him.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. Why rhetoric could hurt more than tariffs. While levies can be reined in by the WTO, the uncertainty caused by Trump’s threats may last well beyond his time in office
BARRIE McKENNA, Comumnist
The Trump administration is deploying at scale a new weapon in trade protection – uncertainty.
MEREDITH CROWLEY AND DAN CIURIAK ECONOMISTS
In characteristically biting style, The Economist magazine’s latest cover depicts Donald Trump swinging from a wrecking ball in a Miley Cyrus pose beneath the headline America’s Foreign Policy.It is the U.S. President as a reckless bully, indiscriminately wielding U.S. power around the world. The portrayal seems particularly apt in the wake of Mr. Trump’s most recent volley of trade threats in the aftermath of this weekend’s Group of Seven meeting in Quebec. Calling Prime Minster Justin Trudeau “dishonest and weak,” Mr. Trump dropped a renewed threat of auto tariffs on Canada and Europe from Air Force One via angry tweets.
It’s just the latest salvo in what some argue has become a key tactic in United States trade policy: the weaponization of uncertainty.
Pain from U.S. tariffs could hit hard. Canada is destined to suffer more than any other country targeted by recently imposed steel and aluminum tariffs because it sells more of those products to the United States than anyone else. Canada will take a 0.33-percent hit to its gross domestic product (after factoring in the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar) and suffer about 6,000 lost jobs, according to a C.D. Howe Institute study by independent economists Dan Ciuriak and Jingliang Xiao. The study estimates that U.S. imports of these products from Canada would decline by 31 per cent, setting off a ripple of effects through the economy.
The United States also gets hurt, but not nearly to the same degree. The impact on GDP is minute at 0.02 per cent, with roughly 22,700 jobs lost.
The loss of GDP for both countries does not reflect what would happen if Canada responds with threatened tariffs of its own on July 1.
“For Canada, [retaliation] could double the pain,” the authors argue.
The looming threat of hefty new U.S. tariffs on cars would be even more damaging to Canada’s economy, disrupting a much larger network of cross-border parts supply chains.
Mr. Trudeau’s response so far has appeared to be to hunker down and hope that Americans eventually vote in a more globalminded president and Congress. When Ottawa announced it intended to retaliate, Mr. Trudeau expressed his hope that “at some point” the common sense of Americans would prevail – presumably undoing the Trump administration’s aggressive trade stand.
Don’t bet on it. Mr. Ciuriak, a former deputy chief economist at the Department of Global Affairs, argues that the Trump administration’s trade policy is less of an aberration from traditional U.S. policy than many people think. For decades now, the United States has used its position as the world’s sole “hyper power” to achieve its geopolitical objectives, he says. Mr. Trump is merely extending the muscular use of national security as a rationale to get what it wants on trade.
Tariffs are not the end game. In a paper written with University of Cambridge economist Meredith Crowley, she and Mr. Ciuriak make the case that the United States is knowingly and strategically “weaponizing uncertainty” by seeking out confrontation with other countries on trade.
“The Trump administration is deploying at scale a new weapon in trade protection – uncertainty,” they argue.
The objective is not just to reduce the massive U.S. trade deficit with the world − as Mr. Trump and his top officials repeatedly insist. Fomenting trade uncertainty is also being used to bully companies into moving jobs, production and investment back to the United States and to discourage U.S. companies from investing outside the country.
Threatened tariffs may be as effective as actual tariffs. That may explain why the Trump administration has been so insistent on putting a five-year sunset clause in the North American free-trade agreement. Canada considers that a deal breaker because it discourages companies from making long-term investments.
Uncertainty is being deliberately used as a non-tariff barrier and, unlike tariffs, it can’t be reined in by the rules of the World Trade Organization, NAFTA or other trade deals. “Unlike tariffs, uncertainty cannot easily be withdrawn – like a good reputation ruined, its pernicious effects on confidence can take years to unwind,” according to Ms. Crowley and Mr. Ciuriak.
Canada is already suffering as companies delay investments or divert them to the United States to escape the uncertainty of being on the wrong side of any protectionist barriers.
The steel and aluminum tariffs, and threats of more to come, are still relatively fresh. But the effect of the uncertainty they sow could last much longer − perhaps long after Mr. Trump leaves the White House – particularly if businesses lose faith in the WTO and the rules-based trading system.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. After the President’s wrecking-ball behaviour at G7 summit, what’s next?
WESLEY WARK, Director of the Security and Policy Institute at the University of Ottawa
Mr. Trump turned the 44th G7 summit into an angry and disputatious G6-plus-one summit.
He came, he saw, he left, he insulted. That sums up the brief appearance of U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7 summit, hosted by Canada this year in the picturesque Charlevoix region north of Quebec city. That Mr. Trump came at all was something of a surprise. He is reported to have viewed the Canadian meeting as a giant distraction from his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to discuss denuclearization. The real shock of the summit was Mr. Trump’s inability to pocket his anger and disdain for some of his country’s closest allies on the planet.The U.S. President is not a multilateralist. He is at odds with all the major G7 countries on trade, tariffs, climate change, the Iran deal, Israel-Palestine – the list is long. In international relations, Mr. Trump is not just an America-firster – he is a wrecking ball, a dynamic made clear prior to the summit by his impromptu remarks about readmitting Russia to the G7. For those with the same short attention span as Mr. Trump, Russia was kicked out of the group because of its aggression against Crimea and the Ukraine. The idea of a reinstatement of Russia was roundly rejected by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Mr. Trump turned the 44th G7 summit into an angry and disputatious G6-plus-one summit. Elements of Prime Minister Trudeau’s progressive agenda got some air time with the other G6 leaders, which include Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Italy (plus the EU), and something might come of the discussions on advancing clean oceans policy, cybersecurity and gender equality. But Mr. Trump ultimately changed his mind and refused to sign the summit communiqué. After departing, while flying on Air Force One and surrounded by his coterie, he also aimed an extraordinary insult at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him “weak and dishonest.” He appears to believe that Mr. Trudeau is the biggest robber of what he referred to at a rambling G7 news conference as America’s “piggy bank.” Mr. Trudeau, to give him credit, refused to be provoked.
You have to feel for Mr. Trudeau as G7 chair. He has no choice but to search for a new way to seek dialogue with the ever-more irascible Mr. Trump and his minions. The Canadian government clearly has a diminishing cast of friends at the White House. John Bolton, the new national security adviser and Larry Kudlow, the trade guru, are not among them. There must have been lots of truth in Mr. Trump’s quip at the summit that Mr. Trudeau was happy to see him leave early.
Commiseration is also due to all the Canadian officials who put so much effort into trying to make the G7 summit a success, including the Canadian G7 veteran diplomat Peter Boehm and a large team of officials from Global Affairs Canada. They are the unsung heroes of Canada’s multilateralist summit effort. Many of them have day jobs working the Canada-U.S. file.
As Mr. Trump heads into the wild blue yonder for his meeting with the North Korean leader in Singapore on June 12, we are left with three disturbing inklings for the future – and a hefty price tag for a failed summit.
First, Ottawa’s reasoned appeal for solidarity with the Trump administration on the basis of shared bonds of history and martial sacrifice will clearly not resonate with the Trump administration, and will not advance our interests. A grittier, more confrontational new ground will have to be found. Prime Minister Trudeau based his initial response to the imposition of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum exports from Canada on just such an appeal. Mr. Trump shot back with a dumb remark about Canadians burning down the White House in the war of 1812 (actually, it was the British). The G7 summit happened to commence a day after the anniversary of one of the greatest, multilateral military campaigns in history, the DDay landings in 1944, in which U.S., British and Canadian troops fought and died together. It was not mentioned. Why bother?
Second, while the G7 was turning into the G6, another multilateral gathering was about to commence on the other side of the world. China is hosting a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperative Council, that features China, Russia and Central Asian states, and was put together as a deliberate response and Chinese alternative to Western summits such as the G7. In the absence of an effective G7 organization and others like it to advance the collective interests of Western-oriented polities and economies, the Chinese will march ahead into leadership of the global system.
Finally, Mr. Trump’s bulldozing approach to the summit has implications for the future resolution of tensions on the Korean peninsula and the North Korean possession of nuclear weapons systems. Mr. Trump may think he can barge through the G7, elbows out, and play instead the great game of bilateralism with North Korean dictator King Jongun. But any solution to the denuclearization issue will not be made by the United States alone, and will certainly not be enforced by the United States alone. ‘America first’ may work at home for the President; it does not offer a recipe for success in international relations.
If there was a delegate’s swag bag presented to the U.S. President as he made his quick exit from Charlevoix, it might have contained a modest-sized reproduction of Winter, Charlevoix county, the great A.Y. Jackson painting from the region. The impressionist work of the Quebec landscape features a deserted and winding winter road, bracketed by a distorted line of telephone poles, and disappearing into a distant vista of layered and rocky hills. There is probably no better metaphor for where the United States is headed in denuclearization talks with North Korea, where it marches in dealing with allies and where, alas, Canada-U.S. relations are also headed.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. There won’t be any winners in the game of chicken between Canada and the U.S.
CAMPBELL CLARK, Columnist
How will Donald Trump know, within minutes, if he can deal with North Korea’s leader? “Just my touch, my feel,” he told reporters Saturday. “That’s what I do.”Yes, that’s what he does. He moves the world according to his animal spirits. Not just with a dictator such as Kim Jong-un but with Justin Trudeau. Angry Donald Trump blew up the Group of Seven and is threatening a bigger trade war.
And now Canada is in a game of chicken with the United States.
That’s not a game this country has been in before. Canada worked to get U.S. attention. It negotiated. Sometimes it ingratiated.
In NAFTA talks, Mr. Trudeau had a careful policy of lowering the temperature. His government deflected Mr. Trump’s bluster into plodding Canadian details. And it tried to stay out of Mr. Trump’s Twitter feed.
The key is guessing whether what we’re hearing from the Trump administration is just loud scary noise or Mr. Trump’s headlong rush to Trade-ageddon.
The spark wasn’t just differences at the G7, or that Mr. Trudeau repeated that Canada would retaliate to U.S. steel tariffs. It was the way Mr. Trudeau said at his closing G7 news conference that Canada is polite, but won’t be pushed around. That triggered the rage response.
It came after Mr. Trump’s own, spectacular news conference, in which he insisted he had laid down the law on trade and other G7 leaders realized they’d have to accept it. But what was really on Mr. Trump’s mind that day, we now know, was looking strong before meeting Mr. Kim.
That’s why Mr. Trump was so mad, his economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on a Sunday talk show. Mr. Trump couldn’t show weakness just before the North Korea summit. That’s why Mr. Trudeau’s won’t-be-pushed-around remark was a “betrayal.” Mr. Trump slapped at Mr. Trudeau to show he’s not weak.
That’s not Machiavellian calculation – it’s more primatology than political science. It’s an alpha chimp puffing himself up to confront a rival – when another chimp seemed to be challenging him, he reacted aggressively to assert the dominant rank.
Mr. Trump’s aides gathered to reinforce the aggression. Mr. Kudlow went on the air to say Mr. Trudeau “stabbed us in the back.” Peter Navarro, head of Mr. Trump’s trade council, asserted “there’s a special place in hell” for foreign leaders such as Mr. Trudeau – the first time the White House had condemned a Canadian prime minister to burn for eternity.
Yet, it’s a mistake to think that Mr. Trump’s animal spirits, or his tactics, are easily outsmarted, or inconsequential. He can make a game of chicken scary.
He has already imposed steel and aluminum tariffs not just on adversaries, but on Canada – despite the North American free-trade agreement.
His Saturday night tweetstorm levelled a threat to impose a similar series of hefty tariffs on automobiles – a product at the centre of a $135-billion two-way Canada-U.S. trade. If Mr. Trump takes that step, it’s not just the end of NAFTA, but the start of a massive U.S. protectionist wall that could tip Canada, perhaps the world, into recession.
But it also means a big blow inside the United States, clobbering U.S. auto makers and raising consumer prices. “The threat is ridiculous,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, because it’s a threat to devastate ”the biggest business in the Great Lakes region and the U.S. southeast.”
It seems hard to believe Mr. Trump will launch a scorched-earth campaign with Canada as his first big trade enemy.
And now he’s done something he probably didn’t expect: He has strengthened Mr. Trudeau’s political position at home.
The Trump onslaught couldn’t have been better measured to raise Canadians’ national sense of injustice. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland responded with tart, puritan disapproval, saying that Canada doesn’t believe in conducting its relations with ad hominem attacks.
Conservative politicians trooped out on Twitter to support Mr. Trudeau in a rally-to-the-flag moment – Alberta’s Jason Kenney, new Ontario premier-designate Doug Ford and federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. Mr. Trudeau gets to pluck a chord of reasoned national pride. That can only give him some steel to stay in the game of chicken – but always hoping both countries will swerve before the end.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. EDITORIAL. Trump tests our patience
Donald Trump’s decision to take his signature off the Charlevoix G7 summit communique is one of the most flagrant manufactured crises ever perpetrated by an American administration against an ally. In its blatant duplicity, it is right up there with the Bush administration’s invented weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Canadians watching Mr. Trump and his officials, post-summit, insultingly call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “dishonest and weak” and accuse him of stabbing the President in the back can rest assured that none of that is true.
What did happen is that Mr. Trump set an antagonistic tone for the summit by announcing, just prior to it, steep tariffs on Canadian and European steel and aluminum. He again raised the stakes on the first day of the summit when he said Russia should be readmitted into the informal group (it was expelled in 2014 after its illegal annexation of Crimea).
In that chilly climate, the leaders of the G7 countries were nonetheless able to produce a communique filled with the usual boilerplate about a wide range of earnest aspirations.
But then Mr. Trudeau, in a post-summit news conference, reaffirmed Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. on July 1. He also called the American tariffs on our steel and aluminum “insulting,” an accurate comment given the U.S. is imposing them on the grounds of national security.
What the vain and delicate Mr. Trump apparently expected Mr. Trudeau to say was that the summit was a success due entirely to the President’s generous participation, and that a grateful, moist-eyed Canada would no longer retaliate against his unjustified tariffs.
Instead, the Prime Minister stood up for Canadian interests, and against Mr. Trump’s wanton unreliability as a trading partner and ally. Hence the outrage and amateurish name-calling, and the disavowal of the communique.
Relations between two of the world’s closest allies are now at a perilous low. The fault rests entirely with Mr. Trump and his advisers. Our government has been patient with the President and his protectionist agenda. So too have Canadians, but this is getting tiresome. We are a polite people, but the President will learn that, when roused, we don’t roll over at the request of an insulting bully, no matter how big.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. What can Trudeau do about Trump? Nothing. The PM stood up to the bully. But that has backfired – and Canada has few cards to play
LAWRENCE MARTIN, Columnist, WASHINGTON
Today’s upheaval has a wild card...an impulsive, titanic ego in the Oval Office relishing the role of schoolyard bully.
Justin Trudeau spoke proudly, defiantly on behalf of Canadians. “We are polite and reasonable,” he said at the G7 summit. “But we will absolutely not be pushed around.”A noble thought. But guess what? He is being pushed around and there’s not much he can do about it. Donald Trump’s got howitzers. He’s got pop guns.
It’s here, an economic confrontation, a bilateral donnybrook the likes of which has not been seen in decades. The Diefenbaker-Kennedy feud of the 1960s was over defence issues. To find a trade crisis of potentially worse magnitude than today’s requires going back to the SmootHawley tariff war of the 1930s. Today’s upheaval has a wild card others did not; an impulsive, titanic ego in the Oval Office relishing the role of schoolyard bully.
At the G7, Mr. Trudeau decided to take him on. It backfired. In saying he wouldn’t be pushed around and in calling the President’s actions “insulting” – even though they were insulting – he went too far.
Prime ministers have never publicly rebuked presidents this way. They’ve always couched their language. The criticism, though similar words had been used before by the PM, set off Mr. Trump’s hair-trigger temper. So much so that he condemned Mr. Trudeau calling him “very dishonest and weak;” so much so that he sabotaged the summit by refusing to sign the wind-up communique; so much so that he rocked the international trading regime with more dire threats.
In his temper tantrum aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump said of steel and aluminium tariffs he levied against Canada that, “Our tariffs are in response to his of 270 per cent on dairy.” That was odd. Before he said the tariffs were in response to his concerns for his country’s national security. Now, he was saying that dairy products were the problem. That such a heavy toll on U.S. defence preparedness could be inflicted by tariffs on sour cream, cheese dip and the like was previously unknown.
When Mr. Trump complains of Canadian tariffs, he doesn’t mention his country’s 350-per-cent levy on smoking tobacco or its 130-per-cent one on peanuts or the quotas on sugar imports or the Buy America laws, hindering Canadian companies from bidding for American contracts.
As for economic adviser Larry Kudlow’s accusation of the President being stabbed in the back by the Prime Minister, Mr. Trump had privately promised Mr. Trudeau on three occasions that Canada wouldn’t be hit with the steel tariffs. It’s the PM who has the back wounds.
Any hope of a removal of the steel tariffs seems gone. Now, if Ottawa doesn’t bow and kowtow, it faces the threat of crippling auto import tariffs, not to mention the demise, given the failure of the renegotiation process, of the continental free-trade accord.
Ottawa now has precious few cards to play, a Canadian insider involved in trade negotiations told me. If it tries further retaliatory measures on top of its steel and aluminum ones, it risks further Trump reprisals. The big dog has all the advantages. While only 16 per cent of U.S. exports go to Canada, 72 per cent of Canada’s go south.
Mr. Trump is untethered – even more so than he normally is. If there’s a trade war he says, rolling out the bluster, “We win that war a thousand times out of a thousand.” With his polls going up and the Singapore summit about to take place, he is feeling his oats. He is convinced that by going strong on America First measures he can arouse his base and win the midterm elections.
Ottawa’s position has a lot of support in the U.S. Congress. Republican Senator John McCain tweeted in respect to Canada and other allies that, “Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t.” Democratic party Senate leader Chuck Schumer sarcastically asked, “Are we executing Putin’s diplomatic and national-security strategy or AMERICA’S?” But Mr. Trump doesn’t need Congressional support for many of his trade actions.
At home, Mr. Trudeau can expect a good deal of support, at least in the short term, for his firmness with this President. But Mr. Trudeau has to somehow get bilateral relations back on the rails. An extended trade war heading into next year’s election isn’t an option.
The first order of business will be for him to try and set up a face-to-face with Mr. Trump. Peace talks are the priority.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. Canada to be hit hardest by U.S. tariffs, study finds. Study: Businesses on both sides of the border are already feeling effects of trade spat
GREG KEENAN, STEEL INDUSTRY REPORTER
Canada will sustain the most damage from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, but jobs will be eliminated in the United States and gross domestic product in that country will be reduced.
Those are among the conclusions of a study done by the C.D. Howe Institute on the 25-per-cent and 10per-cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, respectively, that the United States has imposed on imports of the metals from Canada, Mexico, the European Union and other countries. About 6,000 jobs will be shed in the Canadian economy and GDP in this country will take a hit of 0.11 per cent. The tariffs will lead to approximately 22,700 job losses in the United States and reduce GDP by 0.06 per cent, says a forthcoming paper on the study written by economist Dan Ciuriak and Jingliang Xiao, a research associate.
But if the real aim of U.S. President Donald Trump’s belligerent new trade policy is China, it will miss the target with the steel and aluminum tariffs.
“Other trading partners of the United States targeted by the tariffs are not negatively impacted overall: the resulting damage to U.S. trade competitiveness drives competitive gains for China, Japan, the European Union and South Korea in global trade, notwithstanding the reduction of some of their exports of the subject goods to the U.S. market,” the study says.
“The U.S. tariffs undermine the competitiveness of the NAFTA region, which works paradoxically to the benefit of most other regions.”
The study was done before Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum and a lengthy list of consumer products and other goods.
“For Canada, [retaliation] could double the pain,” the study notes.
But it also points out that Canadian and international policy makers should be not be surprised by the Trump government’s actions.
“The Trump administration signalled from the very beginning that it intended to reshape America’s trade and has consistently acted on this pledge, pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, launching the renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement with an offer designed to be rejected and dusting off every U.S. protectionist measure available,” it says.
Canada ships more than $16-billion worth of the two metals to the United States annually and is the largest exporter of both steel and aluminum to U.S. industries.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will be slapped on steel and aluminum effective July 1, as well as such other U.S. products as whisky, condiments, boats, jam, beef and lawn mowers.
The Americans are studying whether to impose tariffs on vehicles imported from Canada and elsewhere under the same 1960s-era national-security legislation that allows them to impose the steel and aluminum tariffs without having to gain prior approval of the World Trade Organization. Canada and other countries are appealing the tariffs to the WTO.
Businesses on both sides of the border are already feeling the impact of the tariffs or preparing for the levies to have an effect.
Montreal-based Dollarama Inc. said last week that it may have to raise prices for food and other items because of the pending Canadian tariffs on items imported from the United States.
Thor Industries Inc., a maker of recreational vehicles based in Elkhart, Ind., said the costs of raw material and commoditybased components are rising.
This is “due in large part to the headwinds created by the announcement and implementation of the steel and aluminum tariffs and other regulatory actions,” chief executive Bob Martin said in a statement accompanying the company’s fiscal thirdquarter financial results last week.
The Globe and Mail. 11 Jun 2018. OPINION. PM must ignore Trump’s NAFTA tantrums. Trudeau and his team have shown great poise and need to keep their eye on the prize – preserving free trade
GORDON RITCHIE, Former Canadian ambassador for trade negotiations and deputy chief negotiator of the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement
Can a “dishonest and weak” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau keep his cool in the face of extreme provocation from the “insulter-in-chief” Donald Trump? The stakes are now enormous.
Given the contempt in which Mr. Trump is held by most Canadians, it will be very tempting to respond in kind to the latest barrage of Twitter insults and misrepresentations, but that would be a mistake. To draw a red line around the defence of Canada’s sacred dairy program, secure in the knowledge that there will be no criticism from an opposition whose leader owes his position to the milk lobby, would also be wrong.
While Mr. Trump’s outbursts have all the earmarks of a deeply disordered mind, there is some method in his madness. Believing as he does that his predecessors were “stupid” when they worked for more than 70 years to build an America-led world economic order, he would like nothing better than to smash that system and replace it with the bigdog-eat-smaller-dog mentality of the New York real estate scene. He should not be aided and abetted in this enterprise.
It is Mr. Trump’s “normal” pattern of behaviour to try to knock his adversary off-balance with a combination of personal insults and outrageous threats. Having given his best shot at bullying his adversary into submission, it is, however, also his pattern eventually to settle back, accept a deal and describe it as a personal triumph. (The Singapore summit may provide yet another example.)
On the weekend, in a pause between insults, the President called for the elimination of tariffs at the border and, in particular, elimination of the special regime of tariffs “up to 270 per cent” around certain dairy products. The elimination of tariffs is called a “free-trade agreement” and that is precisely what was negotiated in 1988, extended to Mexico in 1994, and what Canada and Mexico are now trying to preserve in the North American free-trade agreement renegotiations.
There are indeed certain exceptions and exemptions: The United States has astronomical tariffs on tobacco and its sugar program effectively embargoes imports of sugar-containing products for domestic political reasons, just as Canada, which does not come to the table with clean hands, has absurdly high tariffs on dairy products. These are all bad economics, but good local politics and should be manageable as they have been in the past. After all, Mr. Trump would be surprised to learn that the United States actually runs a sizable surplus on dairy trade with Canada and Mr. Trudeau has already indicated that Canada is prepared to show some further flexibility on the issue, as it was ready to do in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations from which Mr. Trump withdrew.
As the White House itself indicated last week, before Mr. Trump’s latest outbursts, there is a workable NAFTA deal on the table right now. Canada should keep focused on that objective.
Meanwhile, there is mounting realization in the United States that the President’s offensive tactics are self-destructive. The U.S. economy will pay a growing price for the tariffs on aluminium and steel, and from the inevitable retaliation in kind by America’s best trading partner. The threatened tariffs on cars would be devastating for the American automobile and parts producers. To date, the opposition, notably from traditionally free-trading Republican legislators, has been muted but is starting to build.
To date, Mr. Trudeau and his team have shown remarkable poise and skill. It is asking a lot of the Prime Minister, but it would be the path of wisdom to ignore the insults as the tantrum of a child and keep attention focused on the much bigger game – preserving substantially free trade between Canada and the United States. It is clearly in the interest of Canadians and Americans alike.
The Globe and Mail. JUNE 10, 2018. Trade war looms as Trump and adviser lob insults and accusations at Trudeau
ROBERT FIFE, OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
An all-out trade war looms as Donald Trump and his advisers lashed out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for declaring Canada won’t be “pushed around” by the U.S. President over the contentious tariff dispute on steel and aluminum.
An infuriated Mr. Trump called the Prime Minister “very dishonest and weak” on Twitter Saturday, threatened to impose tariffs on automobiles and dispatched top aides to U.S. network shows on Sunday to lambaste Mr. Trudeau as a “backstabber” who deserved a “special place in hell.”
In the wake of the confrontation, G7 leaders, Mr. Trudeau’s political opponents at home and a number of U.S. politicians rallied around the Prime Minister
Mr. Trudeau avoided the media on Sunday, but Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Quebec City that Ottawa would not engage in a war of words with the Trump administration. Ms. Freeland spoke to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday, and is expected to meet with him again on Wednesday in Washington.
“Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks. We don’t think that that is a useful or productive way to do business,” Ms. Freeland said.
But she said that Ottawa won’t be bullied and will hit back with $16-billion of retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. does not rescind its penalties on steel and aluminum imposed last week.
“Our retaliatory tariffs will come into effect – perfectly reciprocal, perfectly measured, a dollar-for-dollar response – on July 1, which is Canada Day, perhaps not inappropriate,” she said.
Mr. Trump continued his Twitter attacks Monday on the Prime Minister, saying that “Justin acts hurt when called out.” The U.S. President also claimed that Canada had bragged about making “almost 100 Billion Dollars in Trade” with the United States, while failing to specify what document he was citing.
Mr. Trump also targeted the G7’s trade efforts, tweeting Monday “Fair trade is now to be called fool trade if it is not reciprocal,” also saying “Sorry, we cannot let our friends, or enemies, take advantage of us on trade anymore. We must put the American worker first!”
Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told CNN on Sunday that the President was furious after he left the G7 summit early and learned that Mr. Trudeau had told a wrap-up news conference that Canada would not be “pushed around.”
In an extraordinary assault on one of America‘s closest allies, Mr. Kudlow accused the Prime Minister of betraying the U.S. President and making him look weak on the eve of the historic summit with North Korea.
“He really kind of stabbed us in the back,” Mr. Kudlow said and emphasized that the President “is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around. … He is not going to permit any show of weakness on a trip to negotiate with North Korea. … Kim must not see American weakness.”
Mr. Trudeau, along with other G7 leaders, had endorsed the President’s gamble to denuclearize North Korea.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was even harsher, telling Fox News that there “was a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door and that is what Justin Trudeau did.”
In his Saturday tweet, Mr. Trump threatened to impose the same stiff tariffs on automobile exports from Canada and Europe – which would cripple the Canadian auto industry. Mr. Trump’s advisers warned that the North American free-trade deal was also in jeopardy.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Based on Justin’s 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!
7:03 PM - Jun 9, 2018
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Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
7:04 PM - Jun 9, 2018
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“That was one of the worst political miscalculations in Canadian history,” Mr. Navarro said, while Mr. Kudlow added: “How many times has the President said ‘if you hit me, I will hit you back.’ ”A senior Canadian official said that Mr. Trump’s outburst came out of left field, since Mr. Trudeau had already announced reciprocal tariffs last week. Canada is uncertain whether the dispute could lead to a trade war and is particularly concerned if the U.S. imposes tariffs on Canadian autos, which the official said would be disastrous for both countries.
Ms. Freeland brushed off the White House tirades and discounted the threat that NAFTA is dead.
Mr. Trump said on Saturday that a deal was “close” on a sunset clause that would reopen NAFTA after five years, but Mr. Trudeau later refuted the President, saying Canada could never agree to that provision.
“A trade deal with a sunset clause is not a trade deal and therefore we will not accept a sunset clause of five, ten or whatever duration that is proposed by the President,” Mr. Trudeau said.
The U.S.-Canada rift erupted after Mr. Trump left the G7 summit to head to his much-anticipated meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
At a news conference, Mr. Trudeau condemned the President’s steel and aluminum actions as destructive and even illegal. Mr. Trump was on Air Force One en route to that meeting in Singapore on Saturday when he fired off two blistering tweets.
He ordered U.S. officials to pull out of a joint G7 communiqué that spoke about fair and balanced trade and told them to examine the imposition of tariffs on foreign automobiles coming into the U.S. market.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ ” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The senior Canadian official said other G7 leaders have rallied behind Mr. Trudeau. Key U.S. politicians and Canadian political opponents are also backing the Prime Minister.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the G7 communiqué “via Twitter is of course sobering and a little depressing “ and warned that Europe will forge ahead with reciprocal tariffs like Canada.
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said: “International co-operation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks.”
U.S. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein called Mr. Trump’s outburst “a big mistake,” while Republican Senator John McCain said the President’s behaviour toward his G7 allies was wrong.
Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, former prime minister Stephen Harper urged Mr. Trump to stop picking trade fights with Canada and join forces to push China to open its markets.
“Us fighting over our trade relationship when the Chinese have a four-to-one imbalance with both of us is, in my judgment, just the wrong priority,” he said.
NDP MP Charlie Angus called Mr. Trump a “small-minded man not fit for public office. Canada will not be pushed around by his circus-thug bluster.” Incoming Ontario Conservative premier Doug Ford said he “stood shoulder to shoulder” with Mr. Trudeau as did Alberta’s United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney.
Mr. Trump, who arrived late and left the G7 summit, in La Malbaie, Que., early, was unmoved by concerted efforts to persuade him to reverse his tariffs. He warned that Canadian and European reciprocal tariffs aimed at U.S. goods and services would be met with new levies.
“We are like the piggy bank that everyone is robbing and that ends,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Saturday.
Before departing for Singapore, Mr.Trump again called for Russia to be reinstated in the G7.
Mr. Harper, who led the charge to oust Russia from the G7 in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea, said President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed back into an alliance of liberal democracies.
“This is a man who kills his political opponents. There is not a place around an allied table for a man like that,” he said.
With reports from The Associated Press
The Globe and Mail. JUNE 11, 2018. British PM May backs Trudeau but doesn’t censure criticism from Trump trade adviser
PAUL WALDIE
LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May offered some support for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the fallout from the Group of Seven leaders meeting in Quebec, but she stopped short of condemning critical comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade adviser.
In a statement to the British House of Commons on Monday, Ms. May paid tribute to Mr. Trudeau for “his leadership and skillful chairing” of the G7 and added that the United Kingdom “fully intends to honour the commitments we have made” in the final communiqué. She added that “this was a difficult summit with, at times, some very candid discussions.”
However, Ms. May did not respond when Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn asked her to condemn “the comments of President Trump’s trade adviser saying that, and I quote, there’s a special place in hell for Justin Trudeau?” During a television interview on Sunday, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that “there was a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door and that is what Justin Trudeau did.”
Ms. May ducked Mr. Corbyn’s question and when later asked by Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, “Trudeau or Trump?” she smiled and replied, “I’m not sure what activity he’s asking me to undertake with either of them.”
In her statement, Ms. May pointed out the importance of maintaining a dialogue with the United States and Mr. Trump. Britain and the United States continue to enjoy a special relationship, she said, which means that “when we disagree with the United States, and with the President, we’re able to tell them.”
And while she joined with Mr. Trudeau and other European leaders in opposing the U.S. decision to slap import tariffs on steel and aluminum, she urged continued dialogue.
“We need to avoid a continued tit-for-tat escalation,” she said. “That is why it was right that we had such an open and direct discussion at this summit. … As long-standing allies, we do not make progress by ignoring each other’s concerns, but rather by addressing them together.”
The British government has been eager to sign a trade deal with the United States after Britain leaves the European Union next year. Mr. Trump is also slated to visit London next month for a meeting with Ms. May and the Queen.
However, on Monday, several MPs expressed concerns about Britain reaching any deal with the United States given Mr. Trump’s recent trade actions against Canada, the EU and other countries. Ms. May said the United States has already asked about negotiating a trade agreement post-Brexit and she expressed confidence that the British government will be able to negotiate a fair arrangement. She also said that during the summit the leaders discussed Mr. Trump’s proposal for complete free trade among G7 member states, but said the issue was “fair trade. That means not just tariff-free, but also dismantling barriers to trade and it also means ensuring that there are no anti-competitive unfair subsidies,” she told MPs.
Ms. May also rejected Mr. Trump’s suggestion that Russia should be brought back into the G7. “There was a good reason the G8 became the G7 and that was because of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea,” she told MPs. “Any conversations about whether or not Russia will come back around the table cannot take place until Russia has changed its attitude.”
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