Pedro Sánchez travelled to Beijing this week, hoping to forge closer economic ties with China to counter Donald Trump's tariff onslaught. But there was a huge pig in the room during his latest talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping, which both leaders want to pretend isn't there.

This was Sánchez's third visit to Jinping. The first was in March 2023, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine was top of the agenda; and the second was last September, when the Spanish premier tried to diffuse trade tensions between Europe and China.

The US - which has been hit by Jinping with retaliatory tariffs of 84% - is not happy about Spain's conciliatory stance. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned that Sánchez is 'cutting [his] own throat' by seeking closer ties with Beijing. Bessent is concerned that China will continue to harm global competition by flooding external markets with cheap goods - but his warning was brushed aside by Spain's agriculture minister, Luis Planas, who accompanied Sánchez to Beijing.

China is Spain's biggest trading partner outside the EU, but Planas' nonchalance is puzzling. It was precisely to address EU concerns about China's trade practices, specifically those relating to electric cars, that Sánchez visited Jinping last September. Then, the Socialist leader was trying to prevent the EU from imposing higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

The measure had been proposed by Brussels as a way of countering the state subsidies received by China's electric vehicle

industry, which enable manufacturers to sell at much lower prices than their European rivals. Despite Sánchez's efforts, the EU voted last October to impose tariffs of up to 35% on electric cars imported from China.

Sánchez fears a backlash from Beijing, with good reason. Last June, the Chinese ministry of commerce opened an anti-subsidy investigation into the EU's pork industry, which is due to report its findings this summer. As the bloc's number one exporter of pork products to China, Spain would be hard-hit by retaliatory tariffs in this sector.

Trade tensions aren't the only reason why Spain will find it difficult to maintain cordial relations with the world's second-largest economy. Russia's war with Ukraine, and Jinping's closeness to Vladimir Putin, is another issue that has been complicated by Trump's policy convulsions. By aligning himself with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and urging the EU to strengthen its defence capacities against Russia, Sánchez is in opposition to the Chinese leader.

The EU and US have also expressed concern over China's opaque lending arrangements with developing nations such as Zambia and Sri Lanka. But despite the threats to Sino-Spanish relations, Spain is optimistic. It will do everything possible to prevent China from raiding its precious piggy bank.