BEIJING (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday and said he hoped the European Union could avoid a trade war with China even as Brussels weighs imposing tariffs on China-manufactured electric vehicles.
Sanchez told business events before meeting Xi that measures such as imposing additional EU tariffs on Chinese EVS were "challenging" and that Spain would work for a negotiated consensus at the World Trade Organization, according to a government source.
"A trade war would benefit no one," Sanchez said, adding that he was seeking to create a level playing field in cooperation with Chinese companies.
Beijing in June warned that frictions with the EU over its EVs could trigger a trade conflict, days after China announced an anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports.
China in August then raised the stakes by kicking off a probe of the 27-strong bloc's dairy subsidies.
Spain in 2023 exported $1.5 billion worth of the pork products that China will investigate, Chinese customs data showed, followed by the Netherlands with $620 million and Denmark at $608 million.
Spain also sold just under $50 million worth of targeted dairy products to China last year.
FAIR TRADE
"We want to build bridges together to defend a trade order that's fair," Sanchez told Chinese Premier Li Qiang, before meeting Xi.
Sanchez's official X account published a video of his arrival in Beijing on Sunday, saying: "Our objective is to maintain the political momentum of the bilateral relationship, strengthen economic and trade relations and support Spanish culture, education and science in China."
Sanchez wants reassurance that China will not strike back at Brussels by raising its own tariffs on imported large-engined gasoline-powered vehicles, as state Chinese media have suggested it might. That could hurt SEAT, an automaker owned by Volkswagen that is one of Spain's biggest employers.
Beijing's January and May announcements that it would also examine whether European brandy and POM copolymers, a type of manufacturing plastic, had been sold into China below market rates will impact Paris and Berlin more than Madrid and the broader bloc will be hoping Sanchez can dial down the tensions a notch.
State-owned newspaper Global Times said on Monday it was important for China and Spain to have constructive communication on trade issues.
China has been canvassing the EU's member states to reject the European Commission's proposal to adopt additional duties of up to 36.3% on Chinese-made EVs when they vote on it in October.
The curbs would be implemented in addition to the EU's standard 10% import tariff unless a qualified majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population vote against them.
In an advisory vote in July, Spain along with France and Italy, supported the tariffs, while Germany, Finland and Sweden abstained.