The U.S. has asked Australia to hike defense spending to 3.5% of its gross domestic product "as soon as possible," the Pentagon said, in a move that could signal a looming similar demand for Japan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conveyed the figure to Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore over the weekend, where the pair held talks amid rising tensions with China.
Australia currently spends about 1.9% of GDP on defense, or about 55.7 billion Australian dollars ($37 billion), and an immediate boost to 3.5% would take that to nearly AU$100 billion.
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