Canada's Champagne says G7 ministers not 'skating around' tariff issue

BANFF, Alberta, May 22 (Reuters) - Canada's Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday that the discussions on tariffs did come up during a G7 finance leaders' meeting, even though there was mention of them in the final communique that was published.

"They are not skating around the fact that tariffs are an issue," Champagne, who is also the chair of the G7 finance leaders, told reporters in a news briefing at the end of the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump's barrage of tariffs on Canada and other G7 members have started hurting the economies of these countries and fragmented world order of global trade. With U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent present at the meetings, there was speculation on whether common ground would be achieved.

"We are trying to enhance growth and stability, and obviously tariffs are something in that context that you can't avoid discussing," he said.