<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, assured this Tuesday that Spain “will support the EU” in the event that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, starts a “trade war that will not benefit “anyone”, but, he warned, “it remains to be seen what the far right and the neoliberals will do”.</strong></h4> “I want to say it loud and clear: a trade war would not benefit anyone”, said the head of the Executive during an interparliamentary meeting of the Socialist Group in Congress. In any case, he warned, if the US “starts a trade war”, Spain will “support European interests, which are the interests of the Spanish people, of the workers, of the industry and of Spanish companies”. “This is what the Government of Spain will defend”, he insisted. “It remains to be seen what the denialist coalition of the neoliberals and the far right will do”, he added. Likewise, Pedro Sánchez attacked those who “want to dismantle global trade and weaken the multilateral system that has brought so much prosperity and stability” to replace them with “a system based on bellicosity, the law of the strongest, and trade wars in which only a few win and the middle and working classes always lose.” <h5><strong>The EU</strong></h5> The US president announced last Sunday the imposition of 25% tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports. “If they charge us, we charge them,” he declared. In response to this announcement, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “deeply” regretted on Tuesday “the decision of the United States to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports.” “Tariffs are taxes: bad for businesses, worse for consumers,” she warned. “The unjustified tariffs imposed on the EU will not go unanswered: they will lead to firm and proportionate countermeasures,” she assured. “The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests. We will protect our workers, businesses and consumers,” he concluded. The issue of tariffs reached the plenary session of the European Parliament on Tuesday, where the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, Maroš Šefčovič, described the tariffs as “unjustified and counterproductive”, given the close interconnections of the transatlantic production chains, and insisted that the EU will respond “firmly and proportionally with retaliatory measures”. However, he stressed the willingness to dialogue: “We are ready to negotiate and open to consensual solutions when possible”. In the debate, liberals and left-wing groups advocated a firm response, supporting the imposition of tariffs as a measure against Trump's policy, the far right proposed a more pragmatic approach, oriented towards cooperation with the new US administration.
