US tariffs would not impact NATO's deterrence: Rutte

Brussels [Belgium], February 4: The dispute over potential tariffs between the US and its allies will not have a negative impact on the Western military alliance, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday.
"There are always issues between allies ... sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller," Rutte told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"I'm absolutely convinced that will not get in the way of our collective determination to keep our deterrence strong," he said, speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
US tariffs on NATO ally Canada of 25% for most goods and 10% for oil imports are expected to take effect on Tuesday, after Trump ordered the measures on Saturday.
However the US president, posting on his social media platform Truth Social, said he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday and is planning another conversation at 3:30pm (2000 GMT).
Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that 25% US tariffs were being suspended for one-month after Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 Mexican troops to the US border. Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on goods imported from the European Union.
Rutte stressed the US' trade surplus in services with Europe which amounts to $180 billion since 2022.
"That tells you something, that there are more figures and numbers to look at," he said.
Rutte described the idea that there could be a European defence strategy without the US as a "silly thought." The war in Ukraine concerns not just Ukraine and Russia, Rutte said.
"It is a geopolitical thing which is going on. The US realizes it, the European side of NATO realizes that. It is China, North Korea, Iran, all getting connected to Russia."
Source: Qatar Tribune