{"id":151956,"date":"2025-06-25T23:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T23:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/can-trump-make-spain-pay-double-outside-of-the-eu\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T23:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T23:12:55","slug":"can-trump-make-spain-pay-double-outside-of-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/can-trump-make-spain-pay-double-outside-of-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Trump make Spain “pay double” outside of the EU?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Actualizado <\/span>

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Donald Trump<\/strong> recently issued strong threats to Spain, warning that the country could “pay double” if it continues to refuse to allocate \u00a0more than 2% of its GDP to defense\u00a0. Trump stated, “The economy is doing very well. However, that economy could \u00a0collapse completely\u00a0 if something bad happens. We are negotiating a trade agreement with Spain, and I will make them pay double,” he emphasized.<\/p>\n

Understanding the Impact of Trump’s Threats<\/h2>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s vague language, it appears he was referring to the possibility of imposing \u00a0specific tariffs\u00a0 on goods imported into the United States from Spain. The \u00a0U.S.\u00a0 cannot arbitrarily tax all imports from Spain; however, it can target specific products. Judith Arnal, a leading researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano and the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), explains that while the U.S. cannot discriminate against EU countries without justification, it can impose higher tariffs on specific products from a given country, just as it did previously with Spanish olives and French wine.<\/p>\n

What Could Be Affected?<\/h2>\n

While the U.S. cannot impose indiscriminate tariffs, it could target specific sectors of Spanish exports. Such actions would not only escalate trade tensions but could also have serious effects on the \u00a0Spanish economy\u00a0. If Trump does decide to impose tariffs, products such as \u00a0machinery\u00a0, \u00a0electrical appliances\u00a0, and \u00a0pharmaceuticals\u00a0 may be at risk, given their importance in \u00a0bilateral trade\u00a0.<\/p>\n

The Trade Balance: Spain and the U.S.<\/h2>\n

Spain currently has a \u00a0trade deficit\u00a0 with the United States, meaning it imports more than it exports. In the first four months of this year, the trade deficit rose to \u00a0\u20ac5.173 billion\u00a0, a significant increase from \u00a0\u20ac3.590 billion\u00a0 during the same period last year, according to the Spanish Ministry of Economy. Exports have decreased by \u00a01.8%\u00a0, while imports jumped by \u00a015.6%\u00a0. This trend continues, as in April, the first month with tariffs in effect, sales to the U.S. plummeted by \u00a013.8%\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Major Exports to the U.S.<\/h2>\n

Spain’s main exports to the United States include \u00a0machinery and mechanical devices\u00a0, which accounted for \u00a0\u20ac2.51 billion\u00a0 in 2024. Other significant exports include \u00a0electrical appliances\u00a0 (\u00a0\u20ac1.503 billion\u00a0), \u00a0animal and vegetable fats\u00a0 (\u00a0\u20ac1.246 billion\u00a0), \u00a0fuels\u00a0 and \u00a0mineral oils\u00a0 (\u00a0\u20ac1.218 billion\u00a0), and \u00a0pharmaceutical products\u00a0 (\u00a0\u20ac1.095 billion\u00a0).<\/p>\n

Previous Tariffs from the U.S.<\/h2>\n

If the U.S. decides to reimpose tariffs against Spain, it would not be the first instance. In \u00a02021\u00a0, due to Spain’s implementation of the ‘Google Tax’, the U.S. imposed a \u00a025% tariff\u00a0 on a range of 36 Spanish products, including \u00a0footwear\u00a0, \u00a0cephalopods\u00a0, hats, and glassware.<\/p>\n

Spanish Government Response to Trump’s Threats<\/h2>\n

In response to Trump\u2019s statements, Spanish Prime Minister \u00a0Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u00a0 remarked that “Spain is always the solution, never the problem. We provide solutions,” denying having met with Trump during the NATO summit. He reiterated, “Everyone knows Spain’s commitment to NATO, which is marked by trust and predictability.” Following Trump\u2019s recent threats, Minister \u00a0Carlos Cuerpo\u00a0 refrained from making comments and focused the discussion on the need for continued negotiations with the EU. “For us, it’s crucial in this bilateral relationship to continue advancing towards a fair and balanced agreement,” he added.<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actualizado Mi\u00e9rcoles, 25 junio 2025 – 22:41 Donald Trump recently issued strong threats to Spain, warning that the country could “pay double” if it continues to refuse to allocate \u00a0more than 2% of its GDP to defense\u00a0. Trump stated, “The economy is doing very well. However, that economy could \u00a0collapse completely\u00a0 if something bad happens. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23832],"tags":[30515,891,29930,36932,1345,1694,404],"class_list":["post-151956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finance","tag-aranceles","tag-double","tag-economia","tag-economia-macroeconomia","tag-pay","tag-spain","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}