PMs of Vietnam, Spain stress importance of free trade as Trump tariffs hit

HANOI (Reuters) -The leaders of Vietnam and Spain on Wednesday pledged to boost economic ties and defence cooperation and voiced their support for upholding free trade, at a time when both are hit with the Trump administration's reciprocal tariffs.

Spain and Asian manufacturing powerhouse Vietnam are seeking to avert the imposition of tariffs of 46% on Vietnamese goods and 25% on European Union products entering the U.S., effective Wednesday.

Vietnam wants to upgrade ties with Spain to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership at the earliest opportunity, its Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said during a visit by his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez.

"Regarding the current global situation, the more difficult and challenging it is, the more we need to cooperate and underline the multilateralism," Chinh said at a joint briefing with Sanchez in Hanoi.

Sanchez said Spain believed in economic openness and was against trade conflicts. 

"Spain supports a rules-based international order, free trade, and economic openness, and believes that trade wars benefit no one but harm everyone," he said. 

Spain is keen to expand its presence in Vietnam, including in railway infrastructure, where Spain could share expertise from building its own high-speed rail network, Sanchez said.   

Vietnam is seeking to ramp up its investment in its ailing railway system, including plans to build a 1,541 km (958-mile) high-speed rail that would link Hanoi with business hub Ho Chi Minh City, plus railway links with China.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by John Mair, Martin Petty)