Trump threatens to cut trade ties with key energy buyer Spain

US President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade ties with Spain on July 8, reigniting tensions with one of the US's largest European energy consumers.

Addressing a press briefing in Ankara ahead of a NATO meeting, Trump criticized Spain for underfunding its defense, calling it a "terrible partner" in the alliance.

"They don't participate. They don't pay. I don't want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits," Trump said.

Spain was the only NATO member not to commit to spending 5% of its GDP on defense last year, triggering a rift with the US President.

Energy products account for the largest share of US exports to Spain, which has emerged as a growing buyer of crude oil, refined products and LNG in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war.

By 2024, Spain was buying around 17% of its total energy imports from the US, up from just 3.5% before the coronavirus pandemic, according to research from Spanish lender CaixaBank, driven largely by higher LNG purchases.

The European country also buys significant quantities of US chemicals and equipment, while its main exports include medication, equipment and food products. According to US data, it had a $5.2 billion trade surplus with Spain last year.

Spain's government urged against alarmism over Trump's comments. Spain's President Pedro Sánchez told the national newspaper El País on July 8 that the country "views these statements with calm and regards them as a normal occurrence" and that the "relationship with the US is very positive."

Olof Gill, European Commission deputy chief spokesperson, had some stronger words at a press briefing in Brussels, recalling the joint statement on transatlantic trade agreed by the EU and US last year. "We expect the US to honor its commitments under that joint statement as we have honored ours," he said.

The US Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Energy dependence

Energy products have so far benefited from blanket exemptions to the sweeping tariffs often favored by Trump to exert pressure on trade partners.

An EU-US tariff deal entered into force on July 1, making permanent a temporary 15% US import duty on most EU goods. However, energy was exempted, along with products like pharmaceuticals and aircraft.

Spain has deepened its energy ties with the US in recent years, and has leant on the country more heavily in the wake of the Middle East conflict.

The US has grown its crude oil exports to Spain almost fivefold from pre-pandemic levels, making the country its fifth-largest buyer last year. In sum, the US supplied around a fifth of country's refinery intake in 2025, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data and estimates from S&P Global CERA.

It additionally delivered a record 81,000 b/d of clean oil products, including LPG, to Spain in 2025, up 16% year over year. In the second quarter of this year, volumes jumped again, averaging 92,000 b/d, CAS data shows.

In exchange, Spain shipped 19,000 b/d of gasoline and naphtha to the US last year, but its contributions remained low compared to suppliers like Canada and the Netherlands.

In the LNG market, the US is Spain's largest supplier. In 2025, it shipped about 7.4 million metric tons of the super-chilled fuel – or roughly 10.2 billion cubic meters of regasified natural gas -- to Spanish ports, according to data from S&P Global Energy CERA. The volume represented about 46% of Spain's total LNG imports across the year.