Explainer: How can Donald Trump 'cut off all trade' with Spain?

MADRID/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump issued an order for a trade embargo on Spain on Wednesday, asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all trade ... including visits" with the country amid tensions over defense spending. The Treasury, Commerce Department and US Trade Representative's office will work to present Trump with "a menu of Spanish products that may be embargoed in the coming days," a US official told Reuters. The comments suggest a trade ban could be partial. Here is a look at Trump's options to halt trade with Spain and the implications of such a move. What powers does a US president have to impose a trade embargo? Trade lawyers say that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) remains available for Trump to impose a trade embargo or economic sanctions against a country despite the US Supreme Court's ruling in February against Trump's use of IEEPA to impose tariffs. To invoke IEEPA, Trump must declare a national emergency over an "unusual or extraordinary threat" to US national security, foreign policy, or the economy. The law has been widely used to restrict commerce with Iran, Russia and North Korea and to block dollar-based dealings by thousands of companies, individuals and other entities deemed terrorism or national security threats. Peter Shane, a New York University law professor, said it was "hard to see" how one of 32 NATO countries missing a peacetime defense spending target by three percentage points of GDP constitutes such an emergency for the United States. But the Supreme Court did not pass judgment on the nature of Trump's tariff emergency, leaving his ability to declare a national emergency "undisturbed," said Mayur Patel, a former US Senate Finance Committee Republican trade counsel. "IEEPA would allow Trump to do an embargo," said Patel, now a trade partner with Hogan Lovells in Washington, even if it is later challenged in court. A person sits on a bench as a pedestrian with a shopping trolley walks past a specialty shop selling Spanish products in Madrid, Spain. (Reuters) How much trade would an embargo affect? Total two-way goods trade topped $47.9 billion in 2025 according to US Census Bureau data. Add in services, including travel, and the total grows to $74.5 billion, according to Commerce Department Bureau of Economic Analysis data, making Spain the 23rd largest overall US trading partner. The US sells more goods to Spain than it buys, exporting $26.6 billion in goods to the country in 2025 and importing $21.35 billion for a US trade surplus of $5.25 billion. Top US goods import categories from Spain based on Census Bureau data are pharmaceuticals, electrical transformers and power converters, personal care products, petroleum products, glazed ceramics and olive oil. Top US exports to Spain are pharmaceuticals, crude oil, civilian aircraft and corn. An embargo also could disrupt bilateral investment. Spanish companies have invested €97.2 billion ($111 billion) in the US, making it their largest investment destination worldwide, according to Eurostat data cited by the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain. The US is Spain's largest foreign investor, with over €116 billion ($132.4 billion) in productive capital investment employing around 200,000 people nationwide. What happens to travel to and from Spain? It's unclear how Trump might restrict Spaniards' travel to the US, where their national soccer team plays a World Cup match on Friday. But his administration last year banned citizens from more than 30 countries from entering the United States, including tourists, students and business travellers, citing security concerns. Trump also did not indicate whether a travel ban would apply to outbound visitors to Spain, whose spending there constitutes a services import to the United States. According to Spain's national statistics agency INE, about 4.45 million Americans visited Spain for more than a day in 2025, a 4.3% increase from 2024. Americans made up about 4.6% of Spain's total 96.8 million visitors in 2026, the sixth largest source country after Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. But according to Bank of Spain data, travellers from the US were Spain's fourth-largest source of tourism revenue at €6.15 billion in 2024. The bank said Americans tend to stay longer and spend more per trip than other tourists. What options are there beyond a full embargo? Patel said that under IEEPA, Trump could impose a selective embargo, as he and his predecessor Joe Biden have done against Russia, allowing in some goods deemed essential. In Russia's case these include enriched uranium, fertilizers and palladium. Trump has previously exempted aircraft parts from his tariffs, so jet engine turbine components from Spain's ITP Aero used by General Electric and RTX's Pratt & Whitney could be candidates. Trump also has other tools to impose tariffs or other retaliatory trade measures, including Section 301 of the Trade Act of 197