The European Commission has pledged to back Spain against the overnight commercial threats from US president Donald Trump against Madrid.
“Through our common trade policy, we are ready to act if necessary to safeguard the interests of the EU,” the commission said on Wednesday (4 March) in an emailed statement.
The EU has called on Washington to respect the EU-US trade deal reached last July, after confusion and uncertainty emerged following a US Supreme Court ruling limiting tariff powers and prompting Trump to threaten extra tariffs.
“Trade between the European Union and the US is deeply integrated and mutually beneficial. Safeguarding this relationship, particularly at a time of global disruption, is more important than ever and clearly in the interest of both sides,” the commission also said.
The remarks follow the threat by Trump to halt all trade with Spain, after Pedro Sánchez’s denied the US the use of military bases in the peninsula for further attacks against Iran earlier this week.
“I could tomorrow, or today, even better, stop everything having to do with Spain, all business having to do with Spain,” Trump said on Tuesday.
The US president also justified the move, alluding to Spain’s refusal to pay more to meet Nato spending target.
“We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he told reporters in the White House, saying that Spain has been “terrible” and suggesting “to cut off all trade” between Washington and Madrid.
‘No to war’
The comments took place with German chancellor Friedrich Merz in the room. Merz has taken a very different approach from Sánchez, arguing that “this is not the time to lecture our partners and allies” over potential breaches of international law.
In response to Trump’s comments, Spain’s socialist prime minister Sánchez redoubled his stand, saying that the country’s position regarding the war on Iran could be clearly stated in few words: “No to war”.
“Twenty-three years ago, another US administration dragged us into a war in the Middle East. A war that, in theory, it was said at the time, was being fought to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, bring democracy and ensure global security,” Sánchez also said.
“In reality, seen in perspective, it produced the opposite effect; it unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity that our continent has suffered since the fall of the Berlin wall,” he added.
“The Iraq war generated a drastic increase in jihadist terrorism, a serious migration crisis in the eastern Mediterranean and a generalised increase in energy prices … and living costs,” Sánchez also said.
Sánchez has been critical of the US-Israeli attacks, which have been described by the leftwing leader as “unjustified,” “dangerous,” and “outside international law,” although also calling the Iranian regime “hateful”.
Following Trump’s threats, several other Spanish officials and politicians have expressed solidarity with Sánchez.
Spanish MEP and leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament Iratxe García warned that “Trump’s threats will hit a wall: the EU’s trade power.”
“All my support to the government of Spain in its condemnation of the US, Israel for violating International law, and for not authorising the use of the joint Spanish-US military bases. It is an affirmation of the principles upon which the EU is built and of national sovereignty,” said former EU chief diplomat and ex-foreign minister Josep Borrell.
European Investment Bank president and former Spanish minister for economy Nadia Calviño told the media on Wednesday that: “We all benefit from respecting international law”.
“Stay strong, prime minister Sánchez. Stay strong, dear Spain.
The people of Europe do not want to be complicit in a system that kills children and protects those who profit from their blood. Europe deserves better, and you are already part of that change. Thank you,” said UN special envoy to Palestine, Francesca Albanese.
Macron voices support
French president Emmanuel Macron also called Sánchez on Wednesday to “express France’s European solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion, of which Spain was the target,” the Élysée palace said.
On Tuesday, Macron echoed Sánchez’s complaint, stating that the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei were conducted “outside of international law”.
Macron said that strikes are likely to continue over the coming days. He has ordered France’s only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, to move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.
The order follows attacks on the British military base in Cyprus, an EU member state.