BERLIN, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The outcome of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Biarritz, France, was "extremely meagre," criticized Holger Bingmann, President of the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade (BGA), in Berlin on Monday.
"Nowhere are there any signs of easing tension, let alone any noteworthy progress. And this at a time when the global economy has long since reached a delicate point," said Bingmann.
The G7 Summit showed that "the divide between the participants has widened and that the division between the world economy and Europe is continuing," he noted.
In Biarritz, leaders of the G7 negotiated topics like global trade and climate protection.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for early trade talks between the EU and the United States at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the fringes of the G7 summit.
Merkel told journalists on Monday that both sides had a great interest in intensifying trade and suggested to enter "as soon as possible" into "in-depth talks" on trade issues.
"I believe we can find solutions," said the German Chancellor following the bilateral meeting with Trump.
Regarding Trump's dispute over French plans for a digital tax for internet companies, Merkel said her goal was to find a common solution within the OECD by 2020.
Before the G7 summit, Trump had threatened to impose punitive duties on French wine in response to a French digital tax on internet companies, most of which were based in the United States.
