The growing impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs is creating “tensions” among members of the G7 heading into a critical summit in Canada next month, the federal finance minister says.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem are chairing three days of meetings with top finance officials from the world’s largest economies in Banff, Alta., this week. The talks are expected to focus on the war in Ukraine and artificial intelligence, and how the G7 members can work together to grow the global economy.
However, Trump’s aggressive trade policies are likely to dominate the proceedings, and could even impact what members can feasibly agree to.
“There’s no doubt that around the table, you need to find unity, but at the same time, it’s true that the tariffs are creating tensions amongst the different partners,” Champagne told Global News in an interview from Calgary on Tuesday.
“Everyone understands that the fiscal capacity of countries is more constrained coming out of COVID. We have big things to do with respect to defence, with respect to infrastructure, with respect to housing.”
He continued: “So my mission as the chair is really to make sure that we can work together, remove the uncertainty that we’re seeing, the instability we’ve seen in the market, and focus on growth measures that are going to be beneficial for all of us.”
Other G7 finance officials have expressed their intention to resolve trade disputes with the U.S. as quickly as possible ahead of this week’s meetings.
“Tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on our economy and therefore also on job security,” German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said in Berlin on Tuesday before leaving for Canada.
Champagne said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be representing the Trump administration at the Banff summit.
He would not say if he and other G7 finance officials will be urging Bessent to lift Trump’s tariffs during the talks — which Bessent and other administration officials have said is not something they are considering, although they say countries can negotiate lower tariffs through new trade deals.
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A U.S. Treasury spokesperson said Bessent will push the other G7 countries to address imbalances and non-market practices, including in their own economies, and counteract China’s state-driven economic model.
“The G7 must work together to protect our workers and firms from China’s unfair practices,” the spokesperson added.
Pressed by reporters at a press conference later on Tuesday, Champagne acknowledged officials will be be discussing “the issues that are front and centre” but will be seeking a united front on the challenges facing the world.
“I look very much look forward to the contribution of Secretary Bessent,” he said. “All the colleagues are very eager to meet with him and to really have a chance to discuss frankly, openly, how we can work together.”
This week’s gathering will be a precursor to the G7 Leaders’ Summit that will happen in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17, which will see Trump join Prime Minister Mark Carney and leaders from Japan and Europe for high-level talks.
Champagne told Global News he met with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Calgary earlier Tuesday, where the two discussed the federal government’s commitment to expanding energy production and projects in Canada.
The minister said hosting the G7 talks in Alberta will showcase the potential for the province, and Canada as a whole, to supply oil and gas and other natural resources to the rest of the world. That’s a message he also shared with Smith, he added.
“This morning was all about opportunities, making sure that we see how can we seize this moment that we have ahead of us and be ambitious and build the Canada of the future together,” Champagne said.
“There’s a lot of projects that we need to bring oil to market. We’ve been looking at different things together and she knows that we’re keen to work together, and that we are stronger together.”
Champagne said he also met with Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko before heading to Banff, where Marchenko is also set to participate in some of the talks.
The ministers discussed ways to work on Ukraine’s reconstruction as well as ways Canada can help Ukraine economically, Champagne said.
“There’s a moral imperative to help our Ukrainian friends who have fought for democracy,” he said. “But at the same time, there is a lot that Canada can offer when it comes to energy, when it come to oil and gas, when it’s comes to infrastructure, when it comes to housing.”
In Italy last year, leaders committed to keeping Russian assets frozen and redirecting them to provide Ukraine with financial support.
Since Trump returned to power last January, however, he has threatened to withhold funding from Ukraine and forced it to sign a critical minerals agreement in exchange for continued support against Russia’s aggression.
The EU and Britain announced new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday without waiting for Washington to join them, a day after Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin brought about neither a ceasefire in Ukraine nor fresh U.S. sanctions.
—with files from the Canadian Press and Reuters
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
