France is going to host the annual Group of Seven (G7) summit this Saturday under the theme of "Fighting Inequality." But this year, before leaders begin to address issues of world concern, they probably need to first address Trump and his "America First" policy given what happened last year in Canada.
The G7 summit in Ottawa ended in farce and a renewed threat of trade war as U.S. President Donald Trump left and refused to endorse the joint communique issued by the G7 leaders, showing the whole world a growing division that lies between the United States and other G7 members.
The escalated tensions among G7 members raised doubts over the influence of the G7, making this year's summit particularly important as the world wonders how France is going to manage the differences, and more importantly, manage Trump.
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Fighting against Trump?
Divisions have long been existed when the group, also known as the gathering of world advanced economies, was still known as the G8.
It became the G7 after Russia announced that it would permanently withdraw from the forum in 2014 due to "its conflicting opinions and practices with Ukraine" on the Crimea issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a bilateral meeting at the G7 Summit in in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo
The division enlarged last year as leaders headed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed support for "strong multilateralism" while Trump kept bolstering his convention-wrecking diplomacy and "America-centric" policy. He even insulted Trudeau by calling him a "very dishonest and weak" person.
The G7, in Macron's words, is on the path marching towards the "G6+1," signaling the isolation of the United States.
Experts advised the rest of G7 leaders to buckle up in order to "pressure" Trump and get some flexibility from him, said Robert Guttman, director of the Center for Politics & Foreign Relations at Johns Hopkins University who described Trump's attendance as "a bull in a china shop."
A fading G7?
Facing the situation, France has reportedly "de-emphasized" the importance of the final communique so as to avoid "the situation we had in Canada last year," said a French diplomat when asked about France's "strategy" for this year's G7 summit.
His remarks was echoed by Nicolas Veron, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, who examined the G7 from its economic performance, saying that the summit has been "over-emphasized," and it was more of a matter of the G20 when it comes to issues related to global governance.
Nine leaders pose for the media during the family photo on the first day of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Canada, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo
Veron was referring to the "downgrading" of the G7 which contrasts greatly to the rising of the G20.
The leading foreign policy organization CFR coincided with the opinion, noting that G7's relatively homogenous membership and exclusion of emerging powers are losing its influence and representation to the globe.
Noticing the potential fading of the G7, Macron already expressed intention to include other powers when addressing at the UN General Assembly meeting last September, "the time when a club of rich countries could alone define the world's balances is long gone," he said, inviting four "major partners" and six "African partners" to attend the summit.
Economic data provides a clearer answer to this question.
What to expect?
Back to this year's G7 summit, experts believe that disagreements are expected to come up as well.
AFP described the theme of "Fighting Inequality" as "ill-suited" to Trump's America-centric policy since the French G7 presidency will focus on main areas including income inequality, climate change, trade, and international taxation of digital companies, making Trump an outlier as he sparks disagreement with others on almost every aspect listed above.
Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate accord, abandoning the commitment to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change, a major factor recognized by France in resolving economic and social inequality.
As for the international taxation on digital companies, experts believe that it would be another major battlefield of the summit considering Macron's previous remarks which vowed to fix the "massive loophole" so as to avoid "U.S. companies like Google operate abroad while paying almost nothing."
In July, France also stated that an agreement had been reached on international taxation in a summary of the G7 Finance Minister's meeting. Trump later threatened to retaliate with tariffs on French wine imports.
On Tuesday, Trump and Macron agreed to invite Russia to the G7 conference in 2020 in a phone conversation. According to a senior administration official, Russia will also be a topic at the G7 summit.
With disputes on a wide range of topics, the G7 summit this year is doomed to stand under the spotlight.
(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), surrounded by other G7 leaders during a meeting of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 9, 2018. /VCG Photo)