Has the Western World Started Shunning America?

When leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet Friday in Charlevoix, Quebec, alongside the usual awkward group photographs, forced smiles, and lifeless communiques, expect to find something usually missing from such gatherings: candor.

A preview was on offer last Saturday as G7 finance ministers met in Whistler, British Columbia, and in a highly unusual move, specifically cited the United States—the architect of the current global economic order that has been in place since the end of World War II—for the “negative impact of [its] unilateral trade actions.” Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. treasury secretary, came in for so much criticism at the meeting that his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, later said hefelt sorry for him.” He added a caveat: “But I guess it’s not the sort of issue I should sympathize with.”