April 4 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday attempted to ease tensions with NATO members and the prime minister of the host country, Belgium, amid steep tariffs announced Wednesday.
He attended the NATO summit of foreign ministers on Thursday and Friday. Also on Friday, he met with with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Weaver in Brussels, including to talk about tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on most countries, including 20% on goods from the European Union, which includes Belgium. They go into effect at midnight Saturday.
After the foreign ministers meeting, Rubio spoke to reporters about tariffs and other topics.
“We can’t be a country that doesn’t make things,” Rubio said. “We have to be able to make things to provide jobs for Americans. … It’s that simple.
“So the president has concluded that the current status of global trade is bad for Americans and good for a bunch of other people, and he’s going to reset it. And he’s absolutely right to do it.”
He noted worldwide “economics are not crashing. Their markets are a reaction to a dramatic change in the global order in terms of trade.
“Businesses around the world, including in trade and global trade, they just need to know what the rules are. Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules.”
He added: “Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States. … We have to get back to a time when we’re a country that can make things, and to do that we have to reset the global order of trade.”
The session with reporters touched on nations’ financial commitment to NATO, Trump’s desire to take over Greenland, the war in Ukraine, a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and deportations from the United States.
Rubio said the United States is committed to the 27-member NATO, which formed in 1949.
On Thursday, he said “the United States is as active in NATO as it ever has been,” and noted Trump also supports NATO though he had threatened to leave.
To assist NATO, Rubio has asked the allies to chip in with 5% of their gross domestic product for military spending.
“We think that’s what allies need to be spending for NATO to face the threats that itself has identified and articulated,” Rubio said, “The good news is everyone generally, with a couple exceptions, are spending more on defense today than they were three, four or five years ago.”
The current NATO target is 2%. The United States was third at 3.4% behind No. 1 Poland at 4.1% and Estonia at 3.4%.
Belgium, where NATO is headquartered and which is a charter member, is one of the lowest spenders at 1.3% in 2024, according to NATO.
Rubio spoke with Belgium’s prime minister about a number of issues.
In a one-paragraph note, Rubio’s spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said the two leaders “discussed shared priorities including NATO spending, China, and counternarcotics. They also reviewed ongoing coordination to enhance stability and security in Europe and around the world.”
The prime minister posted on X that “I expressed our country’s hope that the unfortunate trade dispute between the U.S. and Europe may soon end. Let us maintain and strengthen the Transatlantic partnership and free trade relations which have kept the Western world secure and prosperous throughout recent history.”
Today I welcomed Secretary of State @SecRubio.
Our country has a long tradition of working together with the US. We continue to share important priorities, for instance when it comes to strenghtening the defense capacity of @NATO, a long list of geopolitical challenges and the… pic.twitter.com/1wV3ovu35K— Bart De Wever (@Bart_DeWever) April 4, 2025
On Thursday, De Wever said the United States was “not exactly building a great reputation in Europe.”
De Weaver posted his experience on X, writing “our country has long tradition of working together with the U.S. We continue to share important priorities, for instance, when it comes to strengthening the defense capacity of NATO, a long list of geopolitical challenges and the international fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.”
In 1832, Belgium established diplomatic relationships with the United States after declaring its independence from the Netherlands in 1830.
On X, Rubio described his meeting with Belgium’s prime minister but didn’t mention tariffs.
“We support NATO,” Rubio wrote. “NATO members need to increase their defense spending. I spoke with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Weaver about that today. We also talking about our commitment to ending the war in Ukraine.”
In 2023, U.S. exports to Belgium totaled $28.6 billion, while Belgium sent $21.87 billion in goods to the U.S.
