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Trump Sends Mixed Signals on China During G7 Summit

President Trump, at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, once again caught off guard allies who disagree with him on trade tariffs, global warming, Russia and China.

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Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

After a day of meetings on Sunday, leaders of the Group of 7 sat down for a formal dinner, but not before posing with their spouses for the traditional “family photo.”

Beneath the obligatory veneer of civility expected at the annual gathering of some of the world’s leading powers, there had been tensions during the day, including over issues like trade, climate change and Iran.

But for this one moment, anyway, the leaders were on the same stage — if not the same page.

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Asked on Sunday whether he was having second thoughts about his aggressive posture with China, President Trump said, “Yeah, sure, why not?”Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Less than five hours after President Trump appeared to waver in his threats to escalate a trade war with China, the White House insisted that the president had done no such thing and that his only regret was that he had not been more aggressive.

Speaking to reporters earlier Sunday morning, Mr. Trump was asked if he had second thoughts about ratcheting up tariffs and threats against China last week, in moves that rattled global stock markets.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Mr. Trump replied. “Might as well. Might as well. I have second thoughts about everything.”

Mr. Trump added that “We’re getting along very well with China” and said that he did not expect to declare an emergency that could allow him to order American companies out of China, as he had suggested days earlier.

But just hours later on Sunday, after Mr. Trump’s comments generated headlines saying he was taking a softer tone toward China, the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, said, “His answer has been greatly misinterpreted.”

“President Trump responded in the affirmative — because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher,” she said in a statement emailed to reporters.

Her statement underscored the president’s disdain for being seen as weak or backing down in the face of criticism. But it also reflected the back-and-forth nature of Mr. Trump’s trade confrontation with China, which has shifted between negotiations, threats conveyed over Twitter, and a series of escalating tariffs.

Last week, after China announced retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion in American goods, Mr. Trump reacted furiously. In a series of tweets, he condemned China’s intransigence and vowed to impose even higher tariffs on a broader set of Chinese products.

It seemed on Sunday morning that his attitude had shifted — until Ms. Grisham said it had not, at least for now.

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The airplane that carried Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the Biarritz airport.Credit...Georges Gobet/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A surprise guest, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, arrived in Biarritz on Sunday, to great speculation about what his presence means.

Mr. Zarif, who met with President Emmanuel Macron of France in Paris on Friday, met in Biarritz with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian. An Iranian official said “there will be no meeting with Americans there.”

The French government invited Mr. Zarif after consulting on Saturday evening with leaders of other Group of Seven nations, French officials said.

“Iran’s active diplomacy in pursuit of constructive engagement continues,” Mr. Zarif said on Twitter afterward.

The foreign minister said he had met on the sidelines with Mr. Macron after meeting with Mr. Le Drian. He said he had also given a joint briefing to British and German officials.

“Road ahead is difficult,” he said. “But worth trying.”

The Europeans have kept up dialogue with Iran even as Mr. Trump has abandoned the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran and sought to impose “maximum pressure” on the government there. Mr. Macron and his counterparts in Britain and Germany have sought to salvage the nuclear deal, even as Iran has begun exceeding its limits.

It was not clear whether the Americans tacitly accepted Mr. Zarif’s visit to Biarritz or if it was in effect a poke at Mr. Trump by Mr. Macron.

Mr. Trump has said he would be open to negotiating with Iran, despite repeated clashes in the Persian Gulf region involving tankers and drones, and sanctions that Mr. Trump has imposed on Mr. Zarif.

“The president has said before that to the extent Iran wants to sit down and negotiate he would not set preconditions to those negotiations,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters in Biarritz on Sunday. “I’m not going to make any more comments about who’s here and who’s not here and what conversations may or may not be going on.”

Mr. Macron said earlier in the day that the Group of 7 leaders had agreed on two messages to Iran: “We do not want Iran to get the nuclear bomb and we do not want an escalation and destabilization of the region.”

Mr. Trump said he had not discussed or signed such a joint statement, but had no objection to Mr. Macron’s outreach.

“We’ll do our own outreach,” he said. “But you know, I can’t stop people from talking. If they want to talk, they can talk.”

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The fires in the rain forest have caused worldwide alarm. Credit...Leo Correa/Associated Press

Mr. Macron, the French president, said leaders at the G7 summit had agreed that the fires scorching the Amazon rain forest were an emergency.

“There is a real convergence to say: ‘Let us all reach an agreement to help, as quickly as possible, the countries that are hit by these fires,” he told reporters.

Mr. Macron said that France had a special stake in the issue because of French Guiana, an overseas department that borders Brazil. That puts some of the Amazon forest in French territory.

Mr. Macron said French officials were in touch with countries in the region to “finalize” what he called “very concrete commitments” with “technical and financial means.” He did not provide details.

He said that while he respected each country’s national sovereignty, the issue was too important — because of “biodiversity, oxygen, the fight against climate change” — for the international community to ignore.

“We must be very clear: While respecting sovereignty, we must have a reforestation objective,” Mr. Macron said.

“What we are working on now is an international mobilization mechanism to more efficiently help these countries, but with them,” he said.

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Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain walking to a working breakfast on Sunday.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

President Trump on Sunday called the new British prime minister, Boris Johnson, “the right man” to deliver Brexit, and talked up prospects of supporting the project by striking with Britain a “very big trade deal, bigger than we’ve ever had.”

The comments followed a breakfast between the two leaders and their advisers, their first face-to-face meeting since Mr. Johnson became prime minister last month.

Mr. Johnson has said he wants to negotiate a deal with the European Union by Oct. 31, when Britain is scheduled to withdraw, but he has also promised to deliver Brexit on that date, with or without an agreement.

He and European leaders have said they are pessimistic about the chances of reaching a pact by then, but he gave a somewhat more hopeful assessment on Sunday. “I think it’s going to be touch and go,” he told the BBC.

Mr. Johnson is trying to strike a tricky balance between the bloc and Mr. Trump, a Brexit supporter and critic of European Union trade policies. The prime minister needs a favorable trade agreement with the United States to cushion economic losses from loosening ties to the European Union, Britain’s biggest trade partner.

What such a deal would achieve, or when, remains anyone’s guess. And Sunday’s encounter with Mr. Trump, who is unpopular with many Britons, illustrated that, for domestic political reasons, Mr. Johnson has to tread carefully.

British critics fear that a trade deal with the U.S. could harm the National Health Service by forcing it to pay more for pharmaceuticals, and allow the import of food held to lower standards than in Europe.

Mr. Johnson said that he had explained these objections to the president, and suggested that there would be “tough talks ahead.”

The prime minister also met in Biarritz with Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council, to discuss Brexit.

Ahead of the gathering, Mr. Tusk said, “I still hope that Prime Minister Johnson will not like to go down in history as Mr. No Deal.”

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Mr. Trump during a bilateral meeting on Sunday in Biarritz, France, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

President Trump teased a breakthrough in trade talks with Japan on Sunday morning, saying that the United States was “very close” to a major deal.

“We’re working on a very big deal with Japan and we’re very close to getting it,” he told reporters after he met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. “It will be one of the biggest deals we’ve ever made with Japan.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr. Abe said, “By now, we successfully reached consensus with regard to the core elements related to agricultural and industrial trade.”

“We still have some remaining work that has to be done at the working level,” he added, referring to the precise language of a pact.

Robert Lighthizer, Mr. Trump’s trade representative, said the deal would focus on “agriculture, industrial tariffs and digital trade,” expanding access to Japanese markets for American producers. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Abe cited an agreement for Japanese businesses to buy surplus American corn.

Mr. Trump appeared to say that the agreement would mean that he would not follow through on threats to increase tariffs on Japanese autos. “On Japan they’re staying the same,” he said.

Mr. Abe said he hoped that he and Mr. Trump would be able to sign a final agreement next month, when they attend the United Nations General Assembly.

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A pro-Russian rally in Yevpatoriya, Crimea, shortly before Crimea was annexed by Russia in March 2014.Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Mr. Trump has once again ruffled feathers in Brussels and beyond, by suggesting that Russia be invited back into what used to be known as the Group of 8.

Russia was suspended in 2014 after it seized Crimea from Ukraine and supported militias trying to break parts of eastern Ukraine away from the country.

Mr. Trump said last week that he thought bringing Moscow back into the fold would be “appropriate,” drawing quick rebuffs from European members France, Germany and Britain.

Administration officials downplayed the issue, noting that Russia had not asked to rejoin the club. But on Sunday, Mr. Trump said the United States, as the host of next year’s meeting, might invite Russia to participate.

At last year’s G7 meeting, the president said Russia should be invited back, and even stated that its annexation of Ukraine was partly justified — a position roundly rejected by major allies of the United States.

“Under no condition can we agree with this logic,” Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said on Saturday. “The reasons why Russia was disinvited in 2014 are still valid.”

When Russia was admitted to the group in the late 1990s, “it was believed that it would pursue the path of liberal democracy, rule of law and human rights,” Mr. Tusk said. “Is there anyone among us who can say with full conviction, not out of business calculation, that Russia is on that path?”

European Union officials have noted that there are other international forums for Russia, like the Group of 20, that include countries like China and Saudi Arabia that are not democracies.

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A port in Shanghai. Mr. Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on Chinese goods.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Amid fears of an impending recession that could jeopardize his re-election next year, President Trump’s focus at the G7 meeting will be economic, with particular attention on his clash with China.

But this weekend, Mr. Trump’s advisers have accused President Emmanuel Macron of France, the host of the meeting, of focusing too much on “politically correct bromides” and “niche issues” like global warming and inequality, rather than economic growth.

They also complained about a tax France recently imposed on tech giants like Facebook and Google.

Mr. Trump, who has waged an escalating trade war with Beijing, has talked about cutting off trade with China and forcing American companies to stop operating there — extraordinary threats that have sent shock waves through world markets.

In briefing reporters before his trip, senior administration officials cited barriers to trade and foreign investment, and “currency stability” as being among the concerns he will raise at the summit meeting — concerns that, for Mr. Trump, inevitably lead back to China.

The administration officials specifically cited China’s industrial subsidies, direct government involvement in directing businesses, rules requiring companies to surrender technological secrets in order to enter the Chinese market, and intellectual property theft

They also cited reform of the World Trade Organization, a recent target of the president’s ire. In particular, he has criticized its trade rules that favor developing countries, which include China, though it now has the world’s second-largest economy.

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A working session on “G7 Partnership with Africa” on Sunday.Credit...Pool photo by Philippe Wojazer

Nations that are not in the Group of 7 have taken part in past gatherings, but they were kept mostly on the sidelines, included in “outreach sessions” at the ends of summits.

But President Emmanuel Macron of France, who says that economic inequality should be the group’s primary focus, wants broader representation, so he has invited the leaders of India, South Africa, Australia and Chile to take part, along with the heads of member nations. There will also be a session focusing on Africa, with the leaders of Burkina Faso, Egypt, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.

“We have designed all of the G7 agenda with our African partners,” Mr. Macron said.

But some critics said the French president had not gone far enough in opening up the meeting. Réseau Action Climat, an umbrella group of groups fighting climate change, said that it might boycott the gathering because not enough nongovernmental organizations were allowed to take part.

Mr. Macron’s administration “has decided to limit the number of NGO accreditations to a historical low and to keep them on the sidelines of the summit,” the group said in a statement, adding that the world leaders should “listen to civil society, not hamper its work.”

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Mr. Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in June.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Sometimes disagreements cannot be cloaked by diplomatic happy-speak.

That was the case when Mr. Trump and Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, speaking to reporters on Sunday, had very different reactions to the fact that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, continues to test short-range missiles.

Mr. Trump shrugged it off.

“I’m not happy about it. But again, he’s not in violation of an agreement,” the president said, adding that he and Mr. Kim had not talked about such weapons.

“I discussed long-range ballistic and that he cannot do,” Mr. Trump said. “And he hasn’t been doing it and he hasn’t been doing nuclear testing. He has done short-range, much more standard missiles. A lot of people are testing those missiles, not just him.”

Mr. Trump was clearly focused on whether the North Korean leader had violated agreements between the two of them. But when Mr. Trump asked Mr. Abe to offer his own thoughts, Mr. Abe focused instead on limits set by the United Nations.

“Our position is very clear that the launch of short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea clearly violates the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution,” Mr. Abe said through a translator. “So in that sense, it was extremely regrettable for us to experience another round of the launch of the short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea in recent days.”

But Mr. Trump and Mr. Abe both seemed determined to show that they were allied on the matter.

“I can understand how the prime minister of Japan feels,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Abe said, “I like to make sure that we — meaning myself and President Trump — will always stay on the same page when it comes to North Korea.”

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Police officers on horseback patrolled the deserted waterfront in Biarritz.Credit...Ian Langsdon/EPA, via Shutterstock

After a year of sometimes violent Yellow Vest protests, and accusations of police brutality, the French authorities, wanting to take no chances with the summit meeting, have deployed more than 13,000 security personnel to Biarritz.

Meetings among world leaders tend to attract crowds of demonstrators, and the handling of security is widely seen as a test for the French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, and for President Emmanuel Macron.

“We will not tolerate any excesses,” Mr. Castaner said last week as he reviewed the security arrangements in Biarritz. “If they occur, we will respond.”

There were some clashes on Saturday, with security forces using water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters. On Sunday, demonstrations in and near Biarritz drew thousands of people protesting globalization, demanding action against climate change, or calling for Basque independence.

Ordinarily, Biarritz is a small, elegant seaside resort known for good surfing, but it now resembles a nearly impenetrable armed camp.

The local airport and train stations have been shut down for the duration of the summit, there is a no-fly zone overhead, boats are banned or heavily restricted along parts of the coastline, and several roads leading to the heart of the town have been closed. Cars are barred from the beachfront area where world leaders are staying, and access to the city center is strictly controlled, even for local residents.

August is peak tourist season, and store and restaurant owners worry that business will suffer, though French officials insist that the legions of officials and journalists descending on Biarritz will make up for any loss of tourists. As the summit meeting approached, local merchants witnessed the unusual sights of empty cafes, quiet streets and calm beaches.

Reporting was contributed by Michael Shear and Peter Baker from Biarritz, France; Steven Erlanger and Matina Stevis-Gridneff from Brussels; Aurelien Breeden from Paris; and Richard Pérez-Peña and Stephen Castle from London.

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