US President Donald Trump's defence spending push sparks questions over tariff increase on Australia
The White House has avoided confirming whether Australia and other Asia-Pacific allies could face tariff increases if they don't meet Donald Trump's defence spending demands, amid the US President's broader push for higher military contributions globally.
During the NATO summit in The Hague, Mr Trump warned he would double tariffs on Spain after its Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, rejected the alliance's proposed defence spending target of five per cent of GDP by 2035.
When asked how the NATO result could impact negotiations with the US's Asia-Pacific allies, Ms Leavitt said, 'I mean, look, if our allies in Europe and our NATO allies can do it, I think our allies and friends in the Asia-Pacific region can do it as well.'
'But as for our specific relations and discussions, I will let the President speak on those,' she added.
The Australian Government is considering a potential increase to defence spending beyond its current level of two per cent of GDP and may raise its 2033 target of 2.33 per cent, but it has so far pushed back against Mr Trump's demand for a 3.5 per cent commitment.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit, Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia would decide its own spending levels to meet its own military needs.
'Look, obviously, a very significant decision has been made here in relation to European defence spending, and that is fundamentally a matter for NATO,' he said.
'We've gone through our own process of assessing our strategic landscape, assessing the threats that exist there, and the kind of defence force we need to build in order to meet those threats, to meet the strategic moment, and then to resource that.
'And what that has seen is the biggest peacetime increase in Australian Defence spending.
'Now that is a story which is, which is understood here and we'll continue to assess what our needs are going forward. And as our prime minister has said, we will resource that.'
Mr Marles did not speak directly with Mr Trump, nor US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, despite intensive efforts by Government officials to tee up a first face-to-face meeting of an Australian Minister with the US President.
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