{"id":267821,"date":"2025-03-27T08:28:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T08:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/rattled-by-trump-americas-allies-shift-to-defense-mode\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T08:28:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T08:28:19","slug":"rattled-by-trump-americas-allies-shift-to-defense-mode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/rattled-by-trump-americas-allies-shift-to-defense-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"Rattled by Trump, America\u2019s Allies Shift to Defense Mode"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/27int-tariffs-diplo-01-pljc\/27int-tariffs-diplo-01-pljc-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Rattled by Trump, America\u2019s Allies Shift to Defense Mode\" title=\"Rattled by Trump, America\u2019s Allies Shift to Defense Mode\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Trump\u2019s unexpected plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on cars and car parts being imported into the United States will not only disrupt supply chains. It will also fuel anger, alienation \u2014 and pressure to retaliate \u2014 among American allies across the globe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many of the countries most affected by the new levies, such as South Korea, Japan, Germany, Mexico and Canada, are already reeling from the Trump team\u2019s wanton disregard for free trade deals already signed, and erratic threats to long-established security relationships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said on Wednesday that Trump\u2019s move was \u201ca direct attack.\u201d Other leaders reacted in muted terms, hinting that they were still considering how to respond, with another round of tariffs expected in early April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe need to consider what\u2019s best for Japan\u2019s national interest,\u201d Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan told Parliament on Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019re putting all options on the table in considering the most effective response.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The tariffs, which threaten both American and foreign carmakers, increase the likelihood of a global trade war. A chain reaction of economic nationalism with tariffs and other measures \u2014 perhaps adding costs for finance and services \u2014 could suppress economic growth globally, spread inflation, and add rancor to already testy negotiations with Washington about security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Trump White House has made clear that it will use every tool of American power, including its military support and consumer market, to extract what Mr. Trump sees as a better deal for Americans. Economists argue that the potential benefit of more auto factory jobs could take years to show up in the United States, and they may coincide with losses in other industries. But for countries that have spent decades trusting America and tying their economies and defense plans to Washington\u2019s promises, this feels like a moment of reversal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">American influence, long built on pronouncements about values and the shared riches of free trade, has hardened into what many analysts describe as \u201call stick, no carrot.\u201d In the Trump team\u2019s thinking, critics argue, American gains require pain for others \u2014 friends included.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEverything is a status competition or a dominance competition,\u201d said Andrew Kydd, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin who incorporates psychology into studies of international relations. \u201cI think this is characteristic of extremists of all stripes \u2014 everything is about exploitation and domination, and to think otherwise is to be blind or na\u00efve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a result, he added, other countries \u201chave to take seriously the articulated goals, however alarming.\u201d That includes threats to seize Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal, plus demands for economic submission to tariffs that weaken the economies of allies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The pressure to resist has already become a stunning addition to Canadian politics. On Wednesday, Mr. Carney\u2019s campaign brought him to the bridge at the border with Detroit over which $300 million worth of auto parts cross daily. He unveiled a series of promises for the auto industry including a 2 billion Canadian dollar ($1.4 billion) fund to reshape it for a future without the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country, and we will defend it together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Asia, officials had hoped for softer tariff treatment based on factories already being built in the United States at great expense. \u201cWe invest in America, employ people, and pay the highest wages,\u201d Mr. Ishiba said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And yet, at a moment when economic and military threats seem to be converging for Japan, analysts said that his hands are tied: Because inflation is rising with a weakened Japanese yen, Japan simply cannot afford a trade spat that drives up consumer prices even further. Nor is battling the tariffs even Mr. Ishiba\u2019s top priority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With a more militarized China on Japan\u2019s doorstep, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/27\/world\/asia\/trump-china-japan-korea.html\" title=\"\">sending armed ships<\/a> to assert its claims to disputed islands in recent days, the prime minister is most keen to get a clear commitment from Mr. Trump to defend Japan\u2019s security. (U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo this week.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So far, the Trump administration has sent conflicting signals to America\u2019s largest Asian ally. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reaffirmed support for Japan, the president himself has publicly questioned the two nations\u2019 security alliance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are very much constrained at this moment,\u201d said Ken Jimbo, a professor of international politics and security at Keio University.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">South Korea finds itself in a similar position: It has deepened its diplomatic and military dependence on the United States in recent years, as anti-Chinese sentiment rose among its people, and to strengthen deterrence against North Korea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">South Koreans\u2019 fundamental trust in the alliance will survive the latest tariffs, in part because the penalties didn\u2019t target South Korea only but also hit competitors, said Park Won-gon, an expert in South Korea-U.S. relations at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But cars are one of South Korea\u2019s biggest export items, totaling $71 billion last year, and the United States was the destination for nearly half. The government called for a meeting with the car industry on Thursday to discuss a response to Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On news portals from the left and right, many Koreans expressed outraged that they were landing just a few days after Hyundai Motor, a South Korean conglomerate, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/24\/business\/hyundai-us-investment-tariffs.html\" title=\"\">said it<\/a> would invest $21 billion to expand manufacturing in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">William Choong, a senior fellow at the ISEAS \u2013 Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that for many Asian allies, it feels like the United States is a police commander \u201cthat sticks his Glock down the back of the junior cop \u2014 i.e. regional countries \u2014 and starts shaking him down for cash and other valuables.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">European officials and analysts have been flirting with similar sentiments. The White House\u2019s about face on Ukraine, pressuring for peace while letting Russia <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/26\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-us-peace-talks.html\" title=\"\">win concessions<\/a>, has spurred a panic over security. After the leak of a private chat among White House officials that called Europe \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/25\/world\/europe\/signal-jeffrey-goldberg-message-hegseth.html\" title=\"\">pathetic<\/a>,\u201d fury has risen, and the pressure to respond has been intensifying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Europe is already facing the added expense of a military buildup. Automotive tariffs could squeeze an industry that has been struggling, especially in Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">European Union officials said recently that they would place new tariffs on many American goods \u2014 from lingerie to soy products \u2014 by mid-April. More potent measures could follow. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Wednesday that the European Union would \u201ccontinue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Ian Austen<!-- --> contributed reporting from Windsor, Ontario; <!-- -->Choe Sang-Hun<!-- --> from Seoul; <!-- -->Martin Fackler<!-- --> from Tokyo; <!-- -->Emiliano Rodr\u00edguez Mega<!-- --> from Mexico City, Mexico; <!-- -->Jeanna Smialek<!-- --> from Brussels, and <!-- -->Melissa Eddy<!-- --> from Berlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/27\/world\/asia\/tariffs-us-allies-trump.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump\u2019s unexpected plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on cars and car parts being imported into the United States will not only disrupt supply chains. It will also fuel anger, alienation \u2014 and pressure to retaliate \u2014 among American allies across the globe. Many of the countries most affected by the new levies, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/27int-tariffs-diplo-01-pljc\/27int-tariffs-diplo-01-pljc-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7411,11226,173709,740,165435,5663,163575,1231,14314,171453,3096,164053,4320,47368,5516,52,128437],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267823,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267821\/revisions\/267823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}