Most countries represented at the G7 are already subject to a 10% baseline tariff imposed by Trump as a warning of more to come, with European countries and Japan also slapped with additional levies on cars and steel and aluminum.
Arriving for a bilateral meeting with host Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump said that trade would be the “primary focus” of the summit that runs until Tuesday.
The trade issue is of particular interest to Canada after the Trump administration announced several extra levies on Canadian imports in recent months.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is also an invitee at the summit and will have her own face-to-face time with Trump as her country tries to renegotiate its three-way North American free trade agreement that also includes Canada.
While there is little expectation that the summit will end with a breakthrough in the trade negotiations between the US and the rest of the world, US trade representative Jamieson Greer is part of Trump’s delegation.
Dozens of countries are locked in negotiations with the Trump administration to clinch some sort of trade deal before the US imposes stinging reciprocal tariffs, threatened for July 9.
But US treasury secretary Scott Bessent last week said that the date could be pushed back later for countries thought to be negotiating in good faith.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters he would team up with his counterparts from France and Italy to discuss the US trade threat with Trump directly.
“Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni and I are firmly resolved to try, over the next two days, to talk again with the US government to see if we can find a solution,” Merz told reporters.
“There will be no solution at this summit, but we may be able to get closer to a solution in small steps,” he added.
The European Commission handles trade negotiations for the 27-country bloc and the EU’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic was also attending the summit, accompanying the delegation of EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Shortly after arriving at the G7, Von der Leyen on Monday made an appeal to “keep trade between us fair, predictable and open,” in a veiled plea for Trump to back off from his tariff onslaught.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he will talk about implementing the UK’s trade deal with the US during his one-on-one sitdown with Trump.
Britain in May was the first country to sign a preliminary deal with Washington to avoid deeper tariffs, although the 10% baseline levy stays in place.
Starmer said the complete deal was in the final stages and he expects it to be completed “very soon.”