PARIS — A senior EU official cautioned Donald Trump hours before his inauguration that Europe can’t meet more aggressive defense spending targets if there’s a trade war.
European Commission industry chief Stéphane Séjourné said he agreed Europe needs to invest more in its defense capacities, but argued that it would be impossible to do so if Trump launches a trade war with Europe.
Dating back to his first term in the White House, Trump has berated European countries to cough up more cash on defense, arguing that they have been freeloading in NATO under the American security umbrella and even suggesting that the U.S. could pull out of the transatlantic military alliance.
“We cannot do this with a trade war on our doorstep, and national budgets everywhere are not capable of increasing defense budgets to more than 3 percent,” Séjourné said about increasing military spending during an interview with France Inter.
NATO currently demands that its members spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, but that figure is likely to be increased at the alliance’s June summit in The Hague. Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week the new figure will likely be north of 3 percent.
In recent days, Trump has even touted that NATO allies spend a whopping 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense — a vast increase on the current 2 percent target.
Trump’s 5 percent defense spending target — that not even the U.S. currently meets — was deemed unrealistic by Italy and Germany, but supported by countries like Poland and Lithuania, both of which already spend more on defense per capita than most NATO allies.
A trade war could make that impossible. Trump has floated various protectionist measures, including threatening to enact universal tariffs on all imports. He has vented his fury at the European Union for not buying enough American autos or farm produce and is said to be “obsessed” by the number of German cars on the streets of Manhattan.
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