Carney appears to talk China EVs with Trump at G7 summit, announces Russia sanctions

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“That’s good, I like it,” Trump responded.

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The two men were also seen chatting informally while walking together to participate in the family photo.

Canada recently pledged to reduce its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles to 6.1 per cent, with an annual import cap of 49,000 vehicles — about three per cent of Canada’s market. In turn, China has suspended its retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products.

Trump has previously criticized the deal, threatening new tariffs and saying Canada won’t be allowed to be a “drop off port” for Chinese vehicles to enter the United States.

In May, two U.S. Democrats from Michigan announced legislation that would prevent Chinese-made cars from entering the U.S., calling them a national security concern and surveillance machines.

Carney and Trump do not currently have a formal bilateral meeting scheduled during the G7, which will end Wednesday. The summit comes as trade talks between Canada and the U.S. remain tense, with no clear decision imminent about whether to extend the continental trade pact known as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to connect on the summit’s sidelines. The two met in Washington last week for their first formal talks in months.

Tuesday’s G7 meetings began with a working session on building peace and security in Ukraine. Trump indicated he’s likely to turn his attention to the Russian invasion following a tentative peace deal with Iran.

Trump said Monday he had spoken to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin the day before.

Zelenskyy is attending the G7 and met with both Trump and Carney on Tuesday.

During his bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president, Carney announced new sanctions on Russia targeting 162 individuals, entities and vessels tied to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The meeting with Zelenskyy was one of at least five bilateral meetings Carney has scheduled for Tuesday. He’ll also sit down with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea.

After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the two leaders announced Canada and Italy have entered talks on a purchase of M-346 advanced jet trainer aircraft. It’s not clear how many jets Canada is looking to buy.

The first full day of the 2026 leaders’ summit also included discussions on conflicts in the Middle East and a drop in foreign aid funding that is forcing the world to rethink how it handles international development. The G7 leaders issued three joint statements on Tuesday — one on cancer, one on Ebola and one on international development.

The leaders reiterated a pledge to reform how developing countries access debt and financing — something Carney’s government has been advocating since his predecessor Justin Trudeau co-chaired efforts at the United Nations to secure those reforms.

The leaders agreed to ramp up efforts to get private funding and philanthropy to share the cost of development work, while acknowledging that G7 countries should still help fund health, education and nutrition for the world’s poorest.

The document on international development also urges major donors in the larger G20 group to take part in an existing debt relief program, a likely reference to China. The statement had support from some summit guests but notably not Brazil, Egypt or India.

Leaders also agreed to collaborate more on cancer research in a second document. In a third statement, they urged the broader G20 group to work through the United Nations to respond to Ebola, and Trump’s administration pledged to convene foreign ministers on the issue.

John Kirton, who heads the University of Toronto’s G7 Research Group, told The Canadian Press the summit could yield progress on major themes, despite tensions with the U.S. over tariffs.

He said the Trump administration found plenty of room for agreement with allies at last year’s summit, hosted by Carney in Kananaskis, Alta.

“The big surprise about Kananaskis was Trump, from the moment he arrived, was fully engaged in a very co-operative way,” he said. Trump left last year’s summit a day early as the conflict between Iran and Israel escalated.

The Middle East conflicts are also high on the agenda as the assembled leaders discuss next steps if the peace deal Trump announced with Iran on Sunday holds.

Trump has said he expects the Strait of Hormuz to be fully open by Friday. The critical body of water connecting Gulf states and their oil supplies to the rest of the world has been closed off for months following the U.S. strikes on Iran that began in February. That has upended global oil markets and energy supplies, particularly in parts of Asia.

Canada’s Ambassador to France Nathalie Drouin, who is also Carney’s former national security adviser, told reporters Canada is ready to contribute in the Middle East, especially in light of the deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Asked if she sees the focus on international conflicts taking leaders’ attention away from other priorities at the summit, Drouin said crises have always formed part of discussions at the G7.

Trump will host the G20 summit in Miami in December, after the U.S. midterm elections, and is also set to host the next G7 summit in 2027.

Kirton said that gives Trump an incentive to be productive in discussions at the G7. But he warned the president’s volatile personality could still lead to a blow-up at Évian. Trump arrived in France after watching an ultimate fighting event on the scorching White House grounds to mark his 80th birthday.

“If he’s tired, temperamental, grumpy (or) angry, it’s more likely that he will lash out. So I’d worry about that one,” he said.

But Kirton also said Trump could be charmed by a dinner Macron is hosting after the summit at the Palace of Versailles, where ornate buildings made for royalty will appeal to Trump’s love of all things gold.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2026.

— With files from Dylan Robertson and Jim Bronskill in Ottawa and The Associated Press

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press