AP
Madrid
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez again criticised the US and Israel’s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against trade threats from Washington and warning that the war in the Middle East risked “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives.
“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,” Sanchez said in a televised address.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end US trade with Spain because of Spain’s refusal to allow the US to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.
Sanchez has called the US and Israeli attacks on Iran an “unjustifiable” and “dangerous” military intervention. It’s not clear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, which is a member of the European Union. The EU negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 member states.
On Wednesday, Sanchez expressed concern that the attacks on Iran could lead to another costly military quagmire in the Middle East, similar to the past American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“In short, the position of the government of Spain can be summarised in four words,” Sanchez said. “No to the war.”
The EU said Wednesday it would protect its interests and work to stabilise its trade relationship with the US, with which it struck a trade deal last year after months of economic uncertainty over Trump’s tariff blitz.
“We stand in full solidarity with all member states and all their citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard EU interests,” said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill.
After Spain denied US use of its bases, Trump on Tuesday said “we could use their base if we want,” referencing the Rota and Moron installations in southern Spain that the US and Spain share, but which remain under Spanish command. “We could just fly in and use it,” Trump said. “Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to.”
Tuesday’s threats from Washington were just the latest instance of the US president wielding the threat of tariffs or trade embargoes as punishment. The US Supreme Court last month struck down Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs, saying emergency powers do not allow the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.
However, Trump maintains that the court allows him to instead impose full-scale embargoes on other nations of his choosing.
Spain has not had any direct contact with the US since Trump’s criticisms, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Wednesday.
“I want to send a message of calm,” Cuerpo told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. “Beyond those comments (by Trump), there have not been any more moves (by the US).”
Spain’s main business groups expressed concerns over the US trade threat, calling the US a “key partner from an economic and political standpoint.”
“We trust that our trade relations will ultimately not be affected in any way,” the Spanish business chambers CEOE, CEPYME and ATA said Tuesday.
Last year, Spain’s central bank issued a report that concluded Europe’s fourth-largest economy was relatively cushioned compared to the EU average when it came to exposure to tariffs by Trump.
Spain’s exports and imports with the US accounted for 4.4 per cent of GDP, the Bank of Spain said, while trade with the US for the EU as a whole was 10.1 per cent.
Exports of Spanish goods to the US accounted for 1 per cent of Spain’s GDP, or 16 billion euros (USD 18.6 billion), making it Spain’s sixth largest export market for goods, the bank concluded.
Spain’s position on the Iran conflict is the latest flare-up in its relationship with the Trump administration.
Spain was an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and attracted Trump’s ire last year when it backed out of NATO’s pledge to increase defence spending by members to 5 per cent of GDP. At the time, Spain said it could meet its estimated defence needs by spending less – just 2.1 per cent of its GDP – a move that Trump roundly criticised and also threatened with tariffs in response.
