EU urges Trump to ditch trade war as G7 kicks off

KANANASKIS, Alberta — Convincing U.S. President Donald Trump to stop his global trade war is among the EU's top priorities for the G7 summit in Canada, the bloc's leaders said.

European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa on Sunday both urged Trump to stop hurting the global economy with tariffs.

"Let's keep trade between us fair, predictable and open. All of us need to avoid protectionist measures — this is an important message that the G7 can send to the markets and to the world," von der Leyen told reporters, speaking alongside Costa at the first press conference of the G7 leaders' meeting in Canada.

Calling for "a frank discussion among the G7 partners, restoring a sense of stability and predictability among ourselves," von der Leyen stressed Brussels was still negotiating a trade truce with Washington.

Costa said the EU can't increase defense spending, as Trump wants it to, if it has to fight a trade war at the same time.

"This is not the right moment to create uncertainty on the economics, it is not the right moment to create problems on trade, because we need to strengthen our economic bases, the United States need also to strengthen their economic bases," Costa said.