Tuesday 27 August 2019 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES 3I N T E R N AT I O N A L
M I C H A E L P E E L A N D V I C TO R M A L L E T
BIARRITZ
Ahead of the G7 summit in Biarritz on
France’s rugged Atlantic shores, Donald
Tusk, president of the European Coun-
cil of EU leaders, warned it could be the
last chance to heal the battered alliance
of powerful “free world” countries.
By the time Emmanuel Macron, the
French president, closed the gathering
alongside Donald Trump, his US coun-
terpart, late yesterday there had been
no transformation in the ailing transat-
lantic relationship despite severalcoups
de théâtreand possibilities for progress
engineered by the French leader.
Paris played up the group’s announce-
ment of $20m to combat Amazon rain-
forest fires and the potential for talks
between Washington and Tehran over
the Iranian nuclear programme. But
longtime G7 observers say a forum
intended to tackle the most pressing
problems of the global economy and
security remains chaotic and some-
times dysfunctional because of tension
between the Trump administration and
other governments.
“It’s hard to think of a topic the US
isn’t allergic to or doesn’t push back on
now,” said one senior European diplo-
mat. “Or if there is agreement between
the participants, it’s the lowest common
denominator, at the level of ‘the sun
rises and the sun sets’.”
It is a measure of expectations these
days for gatherings like the G7 — which
includes Japan, Canada, Germany, Italy
and the UK as well as France and the US
— that officials from France and other
countries saw the lack of public attacks
on allies during the gathering by Mr
Trump as a minor triumph.
Last year’s summit in Canada ended
in fiasco, as Mr Trump left repudiating
the agreed communiqué and hurling
Twitter insults at Justin Trudeau, the
host prime minister.
Mr Macron tried to prevent a repeat
by scrapping the communiqué alto-
gether and laying on pleasing waterside
spectacles, including dinner at a light-
house and sessions in the luxury clifftop
Hôtel du Palais, where Britain’s King
Edward VII once swore in a premier.
He also aimed a charm offensive at Mr
Trump, inviting him to an unan-
nounced two-hour private lunch on Sat-
urday and briefing him immediately
after meeting Mohammad Javad Zarif,
the Iranian foreign minister, who paid a
surprise visit to Biarritz on Sunday.
“On the face of it, Macron has acquit-
ted himself extremely well,” said
François Heisbourg, special adviser at
the Fondation pour la Récherche
Stratégique, a think-tank. “And Trumpsomehow managed to behave, which is
nothing short of unheard of. But you
can’t really tell until Trump’s plane has
taken off. And even then you have to
wait a couple of hours.”
The unexpected trip by Mr Zarif was
part of a months-long effort by France
to reduce security tension in the Gulf
and save the international deal to curb
Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which Mr
Trump exited last year. Paris wants to
promote talks and a new deal between
the US and Iran.
“The use of the personal ties has actu-
ally worked,” one tentatively optimistic
French official said of Mr Macron’s sum-
mit strategy, adding that the French
president “knew the key risk for the G
was to have it become the G6+1”
because of the divisions.
“It’s one of the first summits where
we’ve gone quite far on discussions on
the Amazon and Trump has partici-
pated,” the official said, although Mr
Trump did not attend a Sunday session
on climate change.
But that dinner also highlighted the
deep rifts within the G7 in the Trump
era. The US president once again
pressed the case for President Vladimir
Putin’s Russia to be allowed to rejoin the
group following its ejection over its 2014
annexation of Crimea. Most European
leaders pushed back against the idea,
although Italy’s outgoing premier,
Giuseppe Conte, expressed some sym-
pathy for it, diplomats said.G7 tensions mar Macron’s charm offensive
Observers say forum remains chaotic and sometimes dysfunctional because of clashes between Washington and other governments
B RYA N H A R R I S A N D A N D R E S S C H I PA N I
SAO PAULOLeading Brazilian companies and trade
groups have joined the global outcry
over surging wildfires in the Amazon as
fears grow that the environmental cri-
sis could hit business.Many of the fires that have been ripping
through swaths of the world’s largest
rainforest are seasonal. But some are
believed to have been started illegally by
ranchers keen to clear land and who
analysts say have been emboldened
since the election last year of President
Jair Bolsonaro, who wants to open the
Amazon for commercial activity.
After initially blaming non-profit
groups for starting the fires and sparring
with French president Emmanuel
Macron who claimed he had “lied”
about Brazil’s environmental promises,
Mr Bolsonaro ordered local govern-
ments in the afflicted regions to take
emergency action and sent the army to
battle the blaze.
The move, however, has done little to
stem the tide of global discontent, with
Brazilian businesses — many of which
are at risk of boycott — joining the fray.
“There is no question this is a concern
for the private sector,” said Gabriella
Dorlhiac, head of policy at the Interna-
tional Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.
“There are a lot of good people in the
private sector doing good work [on sus-
tainability. But] that does not exempt us
from saying nothing. The private sector
wants to show it is doing its part and has
sustainable practices.”
Many Brazilian businesses, particu-
larly in the massive agribusiness sector,
feel they are being unfairly tarred by the
actions of illegal or unscrupulous actors
operating in the sparsely populated and
lightly monitored Amazon region.
They fear the crisis will result in a loss
of competitiveness or even boycotts as
environmentally conscious buyers turn
away from Brazilian produce. MrMacron and other European leaders
have also warned they will not ratify the
EU-Mercosur trade deal if Brasília does
not do more to fight the fires.
“Leaders of agribusiness are con-
cerned,” said Zeina Latif, chief econo-
mist at XP Investments in São Paulo.
“We have a challenging global environ-
ment. Competitors will use this. This is
ammunition to attack Brazil.”
Such concerns were reinforced on Fri-
day when Finland, which holds the EU’s
rotating presidency, called for the bloc
to examine the possibility of banning
Brazilian beef. Marcello Brito, head of
the Brazilian Association of Agribusi-
ness, told local media a boycott of Bra-
zilian products was “a matter of time”.
“We have to stop this craziness of
thinking that Brazil is the only producer
in the world and that if we don’t supply
it, nobody will. The focus of the coming
years is not to produce what we want,
but what the market demands,” he told
the Valor newspaper.
The comments came soon after Bra-
zil’s association of soyabean producers
condemned illegal logging and the
“criminal fires”.
Much of the blame for illegal logging is
directed at low productivity cattle farm-
ers. Soya farmers also historically
played a role, although the imposition in
2006 of a global moratorium on soya
purchases from deforested lands has
helped address the issue.
Tereza Cristina, agriculture minister,
last week defended Brazil’s response to
the fires. “I think it is time for us to play
the role of firefighter. What we need is to
lower the temperature. The Amazon is
important and Brazil knows it. Brazil
takes care of the Amazon,” she said.
For many in the country, however, the
recent crisis has been exacerbated by
the pugnacious language of Mr Bol-
sonaro, who has focused on attacking
critics rather than offering even rhetori-
cal support for the areas affected.
Additional reporting by Carolina PuliceTrade repercussions
Brazil business backs global
criticism of Amazon wildfires
“It was not an easy occasion at all,”
another European diplomat said of the
meal of Basque region specialities,
including line-caught red tuna. “It
became a bit tense, to say the least.”
Another dimension that stoked con-
fusion in Biarritz was the sometimes
contradictory messaging within Mr
Trump’s administration. Some US offi-
cials privately attacked France’s han-
dling of the event, criticising alleged
attempts to restrict the agenda, even as
their president publicly praised his
hosts.
Yesterday the US leader appeared to
suggest he was having second thoughts
about escalating Washington’s trade war
with Beijing, only for the White House
to issue a statement saying his words
had been “greatly misinterpreted” and
that his only regret was not raising tar-
iffs even higher.
“We all know he’s unpredictable and
we all know where we stand,” another
G7 diplomat said of dealing with the US
president.
“But it’s still important to get around
the table and discuss these things.”Point of order:
Emmanuel
Macron gestures
at a summit
meeting
yesterday in
Biarritz,
alongside other
G7 leaders
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian
Press/AP‘It’s hard to
think of atopic the
US isn’tallergic to
or doesn’tpush back
on now’AUGUST 27 2019 Section:World Time: 26/8/2019 - 18: 12 User: john.conlon Page Name: WORLD2 USA, Part,Page,Edition: USA, 3, 1
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