By Ahmed Adel
15 Apr 2025 –Xi recalled that China and the EU are “firm defenders” of free trade and that “there are no winners in a tariff war.”
Brussels is seeking to diversify relations with other powers due to the threat of economic recession. For this reason, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is leading the European Union’s rapprochement with China in an effort to expand markets and reduce the trade deficit. While Sánchez says the rapprochement “isn’t against anyone” and Beijing says it places bilateral ties “at the forefront,” Washington criticizes it.
“Spain is a deeply pro-European country that sees China as a partner of the European Union,” Sánchez assured Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting, where he emphasized that Spanish foreign policy “is not against anyone.”
Following the Spanish prime minister’s third official visit to China in just two years, the signing of two export protocols (on pork products and cherries) and various agreements on scientific, technological, educational, and film matters was announced. Previously, Sánchez met with representatives of major Chinese companies in the automotive, battery, and green energy sectors that he hoped would invest in Spain.
On the eve of Xi’s meeting with Sánchez, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated that bilateral relations with Spain are “at the forefront” of its ties with EU member states.
Under the current geopolitical conditions, political dialogue can be cultivated to strengthen the relationship between China and the EU.
The US-provoked tariff war and the reciprocal responses from China led to a global stock market collapse and investor panic, leading to US President Donald Trump announcing a temporary (90-day) suspension of tariffs on those countries (around 75) that requested negotiations with Washington. Faced with this new scenario, the EU, which on April 9 had approved the imposition of a series of 25% tariffs on nearly 1,700 US products, suspended its application for the same period and announced its willingness to enter negotiations.
“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clarified.
21 April 2025
Source: transcend.org