With a Focus on War and Trade, G7 Summit Begins in Canada

What Happened?

The G7 Summit 2025 began this week in Canada, with leaders attending from Japan, Italy, Germany, Britain, the United States, and Canada. Canada currently holds the Presidency of the forum which rotates on a regular basis, and as the presiding officer Canadian Prime Minister Carney invited several different non-member countries to attend.

At the outset, the G7 members issued a statement on the war between Iran and Israel saying that Israel has a right to defend itself and blaming Iran for the regional instability and insecurity in the Middle East.

Why it Matters

The G7 Summit has delivered mixed results in the past. Some summits were little more than photo-ops for the attendees while others resulted in meaningful dialogue and consequential policy actions. For example, in 2014, Russia was expelled from the group for its invasion of Crimea. 

Three top areas of focus for the summit will likely be the war between Israel and Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the trade war between the United States and China. On the Israel and Iran war, the G7 nations have already stated they think Iran is primarily to blame, and that assessment is valid.

For years Iran has funded, equipped and led the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary organization whose sole purpose is to export violent ideology and terrorism throughout the Middle East. The IRGC has provided training and funding to Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi, and a number of other militant organizations across the Middle East.

Through the IRGC Iran seeks to export its own brand of Islamic Revolution abroad, with the aim of toppling governments and replacing them with a theocracy like Iran’s. Iran was directly responsible for the October 2023 attack on Israel through its arming and funding of Hamas.

The trade war between the U.S. and China has impacted every country’s economy in the G7. While there have been few specifics put forward so far, the topic of trade and tariffs is likely to be a leading one at this summit. Since China is not a member of the G7, any proposals would still have to be approved and adopted by Beijing to have any impact. 

G7 members are also likely to spend time on the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is still raging despite diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. 

How it Affects You

The G7 nations are long-time allies, and if they are unable to reach any consensus on the major topics to be addressed, attendees will likely consider the summit to have been a failure. G7 nations do seem to agree that Iran is the aggressor in the Middle East and that Russia started the war in Ukraine. How they handle the trade war between China and the U.S. remains to be seen.