US mulls tariffs to pressure Spain on NATO defence commitments
Spain is the only member of the 32-nation alliance not to commit to increasing military spending to 5 percent of GDP, as agreed by NATO leaders in June.
US President Donald Trump has threatened trade penalties, including tariffs, against Spain, saying he is unhappy with its refusal to raise defence spending to 5% and calling the move disrespectful to NATO.
"I'm very unhappy with Spain. They're the only country that didn't raise their number up to 5%... so I'm not happy with Spain," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that," Trump added.
The US president was referring to Spain being the only member of the 32-nation alliance not to commit to increasing military spending to 5 percent of GDP, as agreed by NATO leaders in June.
Madrid has argued it compensates for the lower spending with strong troop contributions to NATO missions, including deployments in Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye.