White House says Australia should follow NATO and lift spending

Such regional challenges will be on the agenda of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian and Japanese colleagues in Washington on July 1 for a regular meeting of Quad Nations.

This will be the second meeting of four foreign ministers hosted by Rubio the day after US President Donald Trump opened in January.

“The summit of the next week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tommy Pigott, is setting up on this acceleration to advance a free, open and safe Indo-Pacific,” he said. “This is how American leadership seems to be: power, peace and prosperity.”

Trump’s demands to significantly increase defense expenditures caused friction with some allies. Last week, Financial times Notified, Japan, Rubio, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and their colleagues canceled a “2+2” meeting planned on the same day with the four meetings to attend. Tokyo reportedly called for “sudden” in the United States for higher defense expenditures.

The US Department of Defense conducts an instant investigation of the AUKUS Pact between the US, Australia and the United Kingdom to ensure that Trump complies with the first priorities of America ”. It is greatly expected that the US will want higher defense expenditures as part of any re -negotiated agreement and will bring trade to discussions.

In a statement to the NATO summit of this week, Trump said he would pay “twice more ında in Spain’s trade talks because he refused to sign up for a commitment to increase military expenditures.

Other NATO countries agreed to raise their “core” defense expenditures to 3.5 percent of GDP, and to invest a wide range of defense, such as healing roads, bridges, ports and airports, resisting cyber and hybrid attack measures, or preparing future conflicts.

Separately, Australian super funds, companies and investors will be saved from a potential US tax increase buried in Trump’s flagship “One Beauife bill, after the US government agrees to remove hidden bad legislation.

The 899th part of the bill would receive “increasing tax rates for foreign people of discriminatory foreign countries ılan, starting from 5 percent and rising up to 20 percent annually.

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A series of Australian policy It is considered unfair or discriminatory by the US governmentProbably the Australians had to be shot by the policy.

However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it is no longer necessary due to an agreement to defend American interests with G7 countries. Republican senators working in financial committees, said they agreed to remove the department from the draft law.

Penry Buckley with AP