Key points
- Sanchez is to arrive in Hanoi on Wednesday
- He will meet with President XI during his stay in China
- Spanish premier will seek to attract more green tech investment
MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez aims to open new market opportunities during a visit to China and Vietnam this week on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
AFP reported that the trip comes as the European Union (EU) rethinks its global trading relationships amid turmoil caused by the US import duties announced last week that have sent world markets into a tailspin.
Sanchez is to arrive in Hanoi on Wednesday for talks with Vietnam’s top leader, To Lam, on the same day Trump’s 20 per cent tariffs on EU products come into force, according to AFP.
On Thursday, he will travel to Ho Chi Minh City, the Asian manufacturing powerhouse’s commercial capital, to meet with business leaders.
He then heads to China for his third visit in just over two years, where he is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping and Chinese investors on Friday.
China and Vietnam currently sell much more to Spain than they buy.
The first official visit
Trump last week announced he would hit China with an additional 34 per cent tariff on top of a 20 per cent levy imposed this year. On Monday, he threatened additional tariffs of 50 per cent from Wednesday if China did not withdraw its retaliatory measures.
Vietnam, where Sanchez will make the first official visit by a Spanish prime minister, is to be hit with a thumping 46 per cent tariff.
Sanchez broke with the rest of the EU on his last trip to China in September 2024, urging the bloc to reconsider plans to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric cars and calling for a “fair trade order”.
Sanchez “has tried to present himself as a bridge between Brussels and China and to be one of the voices calling for pragmatism” that puts the economy first, said Ines Arco, an Asia specialist at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, a think tank.
Spain’s conservative opposition and media have however accused Sanchez of acting on his own and without coordination with Brussels.
“It’s a mistake to want to switch from the United States to China overnight,” said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of Spain’s main opposition conservative Popular Party.
“Level playing field”
According to AFP, Brussels, however, has recently signalled that it wants smoother ties with Beijing. After Trump’s return to the White House in January, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called for “constructive engagement with China”.
And the bloc’s trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, recently visited China to “promote a more balanced and cooperative trade relationship”.
Spain buys some 45 billion euros of goods from China per year, its fourth-largest trading partner, but sells it just some 7.4 billion euros.
Sanchez will also seek to attract more green tech investment after Chinese carmaker Chery announced last year it would open its first European electric car factory in Barcelona.
