On Wednesday, the European Commission avoided responding directly to US President Donald Trump, who has once again threatened Spain with higher tariffs due to differences over defence spending.
However, it wanted to make it clear that Brussels has the power to retaliate against ‘any trade action’ that a third country takes against a member of the European Union.
‘What I can say, in general terms, is that trade policy falls within the exclusive competence of the European Commission, which acts on behalf of all Member States, so it will respond appropriately, as we always do, to any measures taken against one or more of our Member States,’ said Trade Spokesperson Olof Gill at a press conference.
The EU spokesperson twice avoided responding directly to questions about Brussels’ opinion on Trump’s threats against Spain because, as Gill explained, they have not materialised at this stage.
‘We must be very clear that we do not comment on hypothetical scenarios, and that is what they are talking about,’ the spokesperson replied to questions about Spain at the daily press conference.
The fact that the European Union’s trade policy falls to the EU executive, which speaks on behalf of the 27 member states, also means in practice that a third country cannot impose tariffs targeting a single member state.
However, it could do so indirectly if the third country identifies specific products that it considers to be of particular interest to the country, for example olive oil in the case of Spain, and applies taxes on European imports of that type in an attempt to burden a specific country.
Trump had already threatened to punish Spain with tariffs at the NATO summit in The Hague last June, although he ultimately took no action against the state and, within a few weeks, finalized the trade agreement with Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission. In fact, it would be very difficult for the United States to punish the Spanish economy in retaliation at this time. It should be remembered that this would not be the first time that the US or the EU have specifically attacked products from a particular country or region. Trump, for example, is obsessed with French champagne and wine, and Brussels had threatened to attack him.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, has warned President Donald Trump that if he carries out his threat to impose tariffs on Spain as punishment for not increasing spending on defence to 5% of GDP, ‘it will be very costly for Americans’, given that Spain’s trade balance with the United States is in deficit.
‘The supposed punishment he wants to inflict on the Spanish people will be very costly for the American people. If he implements these policies, it will directly harm the American people. In other words, if he carries out this threat, this policy of hatred, he will not be punishing our country,’ she stressed in statements to Congress.
Díaz also pointed out that Spain will defend its productive sectors: ‘If we have to defend olive oil, the automotive industry, wine, and other productive sectors that could be affected by this punitive policy, we will do so,’ she guaranteed. She also recalled that ‘in Spain, it is the Spanish people who are in charge, not Mr. Trump.’ ‘We are not his protectorate,’ she said.