Merkel: G7 agree on commitment to rules-based trade

LA MALBAIE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that G7 leaders had agreed on the wording of a common statement at their ongoing summit which would include a commitment to a "rules-based" trade framework.

"By any reckoning we will have a final communique," Merkel told journalists on the final day of the summit in Canada, which has been held amid anger towards the US for imposing tariffs on allies, circumventing the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the process.

"On the issue of trade, we have been able to agree on important questions to us," she added, stressing that it was "important to have a commitment to rules-based trade."

Merkel acknowledged, however, that major differences remained between the US and its partners in the group which includes the world's seven most industrialized economies.

"This is not a detailed solution to our problems. The differences in opinion have not been taken off the table."

The German leader said there was "a common conviction" about the need for changes to the WTO, although it was not immediately clear if there would a clear call for reform in the final statement.

American President Donald Trump has said the WTO has been a "disaster" and "very unfair" towards the United States.