The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has described United States of America President, Donald Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement as “unprecedented” and referred to them as a return to “19th-century protectionism.”
This comes as the Spanish government proposed a support package of €14.1 billion to defend its economy from the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Sánchez also said that Europe should deploy a package of counter-tariffs and other measures in response and set up an aid fund financed from revenues from tariffs imposed on the US in return.
In a particularly terse statement, reported by Reuters, Sánchez said that Europe now faces a trade attack from the West, just as it responds to a military attack from Russia in the East.
Spain’s leader’s reaction comes as Trump on Wednesday announced the implementation of global tariffs.
In the tariffs announcement, Trump dubbed April 2, 2025, as “liberation day” for Americans.
Apart from specific tariffs on countries, the Trump administration announced a 10 percent baseline on imports from every country.
