US President Donald Trump has ordered his Treasury Secretary Scott Besant to immediately halt all trade with Spain. Trump called Madrid a “very bad partner” in NATO and said he did not want to do any business with Spain. His announcement comes at a time when there are already tensions between America and Spain over defense spending and war with Iran.
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Trump publicly criticized Spain during the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday. European leaders had hoped the meeting would ease divisions within the military alliance, but Trump reignited the dispute with Spain. Not only that, he also angered Denmark. Trump reiterated that America must have control of Greenland.
President Trump has said for the second time that trade with Spain must cease if it refuses to accept a new NATO defense spending target. NATO set a new defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP for member countries, but Spain did not accept it. Earlier in March, Trump also spoke about this, but trade between the two countries continued as usual.
During a call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said: “Spain doesn’t agree to anything. You shouldn’t keep them together.” After this, Root tried to calm the atmosphere. He said Spain increased defense spending to 2 percent of GDP last year. However, he also acknowledged that there are still some issues that remain to be resolved.
Meanwhile, Trump turned to his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, and said, “I don’t want to do any trade with them, okay?” To this Besant replied: “Yes, sir.” Trump then said, “Take it now. Don’t even talk to them. They are useless. They are bad people. They earn a lot of money from us, but we will see that they earn very little.” Spain’s reaction also became known on this matter.
The office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said regarding Trump’s statements that he takes them as usual and intends to maintain very good relations with Washington. It was also said that Spain has a trade deficit with America. Economic relations between the two countries developed through private companies rather than through governments.
Spain also recalled that it is a member of the Customs and Trade Union of the European Union. In such a situation, according to EU rules, trade negotiations take place with the entire group, and not with any one member country individually. Therefore, it will not be easy to implement a trade solution by isolating any one member country. Trump has long expressed his dissatisfaction with Spain.
The main reason for this is the differences between the two countries regarding the war in Iran. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is the leader of the Socialists and heads a left-wing minority government. He refused to allow America to use its airspace or military bases in Spain during the war with Iran. America and Spain jointly operate two important military bases.
They are used for naval and air operations. In such a situation, the growing tension between the two countries is considered important at the strategic level as well. Spain also has an important partnership with America on the economic front. Spain is the world’s largest exporter of olive oil. Apart from this, it also exports auto parts, steel and chemicals to America.
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