President Donald Trump’s trade talks have taken an unexpected turn as foreign leaders are being pressured on non-trade issues, including military budgets, antitrust laws, and defense spending. The US president is using tariffs as leverage to extract concessions from countries on a range of unrelated issues.
Trump has threatened new tariffs on Spain after the country refused to increase its defense spending in line with other NATO allies, despite being part of the European Union. He has also positioned Canadian investment in his “Golden Dome” missile defense system as a way for the country to prove itself amid ongoing trade negotiations – though the US can’t build the system without help from Canada.
The approach has frustrated other countries, including South Korea and China, which have balked at the 5% across-the-board defense spending target the US has set for its allies in Asia. Trump has also pressured countries like Japan and South Korea to abandon antitrust legislative proposals aimed at regulating online platforms opposed by Google, Apple, and Meta.
The use of tariffs as leverage on non-trade issues has created uncertainty and threatened to upend the global economy. Other trading partners have grown increasingly frustrated with what they say are unbalanced demands from the US.
Former Trump administration officials doubt that the White House will change course. “I see no evidence that the administration intends to reverse or scale back its use of this approach,” said Patrick Childress, a former US Trade Representative assistant general counsel.
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/28/trade-talks-morph-into-trumps-global-bargaining-table-00430160