US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Spain not to seek closer ties with China as retaliation to US tariffs. The Treasury Secretary was reacting to comments made by the Spanish Minister for Agriculture Luis Planas Puchades who said that “We have excellent trade relations with China which we intend to not only continue having, but expanding,”. His comments were made in Vietnam as the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares met with their Vietnamese counterparts in Hanoi. The Spanish delegation will travel to China tomorrow.
In Vietnam the Spanish Prime Minister announced up to €350 million in loans for Spanish companies to invest in Vietnam. The visit was made on the 50th anniversary of Vietnam’s unification following the war against the US in 1975. It was the first official visit of a Spanish government leader to the country.
European leaders can not keep up with the pace of fast changes that are taking place with regard to tariffs. As of yesterday evening European leaders had successfully complied together by deciding to retaliate with tariffs on US products unless newly imposed tariffs by the US are removed by April 15th. Most European leaders had successfully kept this position secret but Reuters reported that a retaliation by the EU was imminent. The European Union engaged in discussions with the US following President Trump’s announcement of his trade war and even offered 0 tariffs on all industrial goods. President Trump has now given a 90-day reprieve on tariffs.
European leaders will now have to go back to the drawing board to decide on their next steps. Given that European leaders can’t possibly meet every day in Brussels to make decisions, discussions between European leaders are being held via video calls WhatsApp and emails. The EU has 27 member-states all having different and particular perspectives and positions on tariffs and international trade that need to be reconciled rapidly every time a major change by the US is announced.
Newsroom
Leave a Reply