EU-China Digital Dialogue Postponed Amid Rising Trade Tensions

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Europe ahead of the G7 leaders' summit in Évian-les-Bains, France (June 15–17), meeting bilaterally with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on Friday. The two leaders announced a general security of information agreement enabling the exchange of classified data across defence, space, AI, and aerospace sectors, and Canada also joined Europe's SAFE Instrument defence loan program worth 150 billion euros. A Macron-led video call earlier in the week brought together G7 nations and China to address global economic imbalances, including Chinese industrial overcapacity — a key summit agenda item. Carney, who rose to political prominence partly on his Davos speech condemning great-power coercion, is now expected to moderate his public criticism of Trump as the scheduled July 1 USMCA review looms and Trump has floated withdrawing from the deal. Analysts note a tension between Carney's 'middle power resistance' rhetoric and the diplomatic pragmatism required to protect Canada's trade relationship with the U.S., its destination for more than 70% of exports. Carney will also visit Ireland this weekend, where Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to announce ratification of the Canada-EU CETA trade agreement, as part of Canada's broader push to diversify trade away from the U.S. Separately, EU-China digital dialogue talks were cancelled by Beijing with no rescheduled date, adding to a broader picture of fraying multilateral trade relationships ahead of the summit.