The threat of imposing tariffs on Spain if it does not comply with the spending of 5% of GDP on defense agreed within the framework of NATO comes up against Brussels. The European Commission recalled this Wednesday – once again – that trade is its exclusive competence and that an attack of this type against a member country is something to which the EU as a bloc should respond. And he will do so if the case arises. “We will respond appropriately, as we always do, to any measure taken against one or more of our Member States,” said a community spokesperson to a question about .
However, NATO, the military organization led by the United States, has avoided criticizing the American, who has even suggested that the Alliance should expel Spain for not reaching that 5% of its GDP in defense. Expulsion is not included in the organization’s treaties, which dictate that it can only be abandoned of its own free will.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has praised the US president and defended his pressure to increase military spending. “President Trump has been fundamental to the success of the NATO Summit [en la que se acordó la nueva meta para inversión en defensa]. I have already said it before: without it, we would never have reached this result of 5% of GDP, including 3.5% of qualified spending,” Rutte said this Wednesday at a press conference, after a meeting in Brussels of the Alliance’s defense ministers.
“If anyone thought that, without Trump as president of the United States, we would have achieved [esa meta]would be an exaggeration. We achieved it thanks to him and for two reasons: because we have to achieve the scalability objectives, and we need them so that, if Article Five is activated [de defensa colectiva]we can do whatever is necessary to combat the adversary that attacks us, whether it is Russia, terrorism or any other; but also because we are now on par with the US. So he is pushing hard for that to happen. “Me too,” he remarked.
Trump has raised and sharpened his threats to Spain in recent weeks for not reaching the 5% defense investment that NATO allies agreed to meet (in response to the demands of the United States) at the Hague summit last June. A commitment for which Spain achieved a safeguard by ensuring, in an exchange of letters with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, that it could cover its commitments with the Alliance by spending 2.1% of GDP. “In The Hague we had unanimity among the 32 allies. Spain totally agreed on the capacity objectives,” Rutte said this Wednesday, avoiding specifying Spain’s reduced commitment.
A commitment with which the head of the White House is not satisfied. Now, Washington is redoubling its threat, once again waving the trade card. But while in NATO they have a low profile and try to avoid criticism of the threats of Trump, a member of the organization, in the European Commission they are clear. The Community Executive recalled that the EU has closed a bilateral trade agreement with the United States to stop the tariff escalation with which Trump threatened the entire bloc. “This is the platform to raise any commercial or trade-related issue,” stressed the spokesperson, who did not want to talk about the specific Spanish case, since, at least for now, it is a “hypothetical” issue.
During the Hague summit at the end of June, Trump already threatened Spain with making it pay with tariffs for its defiance of his demand to all allies to increase defense spending to 5% (3.5% in strict defense and 1.5% in related expenses). Until a few days ago, the Republican had not mentioned this possibility again, which he did not mention this Monday during his greeting with Sánchez in .
