The Quad’s announcement of a new port in Fiji has been met with understandable caution by Fijians in general. But there is a deeper lesson Fiji should absorb — one that allies far larger and more powerful have learned the hard way. When the United States cannot squeeze China, it often ends up squeezing its own friends.
Consider the case of Denmark. In January 2026, POTUS threatened to impose rising tariffs — starting at 10 percent and increasing to 25 percent by June — on eight European nations, including Denmark, over their refusal to sell Greenland. The justification was not trade but territorial ambition. Danish officials said they would not “bow down” to what they called “bullying tactics”. European Parliament froze a hard‑won EU‑US trade deal in response. Denmark, a loyal NATO ally, was punished for refusing to hand over its own territory.
Or look at Taiwan. In 2025, Washington imposed a 20 percent tariff on most Taiwanese exports. The eventual trade deal — finalized in early 2026 — required Taiwan to invest a staggering $250 billion in US chip, AI, and energy production in exchange for a tariff cut to 15 percent. Taiwan got a modest reduction; the US got a quarter‑trillion dollars of investment. The island was strong‑armed into paying for its own “protection”.
This pattern extends across the board. In April 2025, Trump’s reciprocal tariffs hit 15 key trade partners, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Germany. The result, as the Lowy Institute noted, is that “allies are done waiting for America to grow up”. A former US trade official put it bluntly: “Wielding tariffs against allies and adversaries alike, will make the United States less well‑off — and less secure”.
Why does this matter for Fiji? Because the Quad port is not charity. It is a geostrategic investment designed to counter China’s influence in the Pasifika. The US and its partners are spending money on Fiji for their own reasons — not ours. And as the examples above show, when US strategic interests shift, allies are often left holding the bill.
Fiji already got a preview. In April 2025, the US imposed a 32 percent reciprocal tariff on Fijian goods before reducing it to 15 percent after direct negotiation. It took frantic diplomacy just to halve the rate. The message was unmistakable: even our largest export market is willing to weaponise trade against a small Pasifika nation.
So what should Fiji do? We should be grateful for nothing and strategic about everything. We should welcome infrastructure investment — from Quad or China or anyone else — but only on terms that keep ownership, control and economic benefits firmly in Fijian hands. We should treat the Quad port as a transaction, not an alliance. And we should remember: the US has shown that it treats its allies the same way it treats its adversaries — as leverage.
We must watch what America does, not what it says. Because when the great powers compete, it is the small nations that pay the price — unless we learn to play the game first. Why should government not insist that the US first ;fit all tariffs on Fiji before government c considers any Quad port?
Pasifika Talanoa by a traveled ITaukei Fijian 