Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday they would confront President Donald Trump over his tariffs on steel and aluminum.
"If we don't react to the unilateral and illegal decision from the U.S., this would not be correct," Macron said at a joint news conference with Trudeau ahead of a Quebec summit with Group of Seven leaders, Politico reported.
"Within the international framework, we have to take measures and that's what Canada has done and what the European Union has also announced. We have to protect our industries, our workers, our economies, because that's what our people expect from us," Macron said at the conference.
"We are going to defend our nations and our workers," Trudeau added.
The two leaders rejected claims from Trump about national security concerns.
"France and NATO — this is ridiculous to think that they could be a threat to the United States' security," Trudeau said.
"In reality, we are the closest allies and friends that the United States has had for quite some time," Trudeau added.
Macron said the tariffs would hurt workers in the U.S., too.
"A trade war doesn't spare anyone," he said at the conference.
The CBC News posted the press conference on YouTube.
On Wednesday, France joined Germany to say that progress on tariffs must be made before Macron would sign a joint statement with the G-7 group. https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/france-germany-trump-g7/2018/06/06/id/864674/
Trudeau, the G-7 summit’s host, said that the tariffs were “insulting” to the longstanding alliance of the U.S. and Canada.
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