Sanchez’s Huawei stance puts Spain in Trump’s line of fire

The United States could soon impose severe consequences on Spain’s Sanchez administration for advancing the claim that the use of Huawei technology in its storage system for Spanish judicial wiretaps does not pose a national security threat. 

The Trump administration and the US Congress have made it clear that they believe that it is in the US national interest to aggressively counter the use of Chinese hardware and software in and around the national security-sensitive infrastructure of the United States and its allies. That includes NATO and major non-NATO allies. 

The Trump administration, therefore, cannot give the Sanchez government a pass on its controversial decision to downplay the national security threats posed by Huawei technology in the Spanish defense, security and intelligence sector. 

That would not only give rise to inconsistency between policy and practice, but also lead to confusion and uncertainty. It would create the impression that the Trump administration is willing to accept strategic misalignment with US national security and foreign policy interests by US allies and partners. It is not.

The Trump administration, therefore, needs to quickly decide how best to respond to the Sanchez administration. In Washington, one proposal that has been discussed is to impose targeted sanctions that restrict travel and freeze the assets of Spanish individuals and entities that are involved in corruption, organized crime, human rights violations and anticompetitive practices.

They might include Spanish organizations far outside the defense industrial base. Examples include La Liga, the Galician Mafia and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party. 

Another option that has been discussed is to rein in bilateral defense, security and intelligence cooperation. That could include imposing restrictions on defense trade, relocating US military forces from Spanish military bases, suspending Spain from US intelligence sharing platforms, and/or ordering a full review of the bilateral relationship between Spain and the United States – similar to what is being discussed for South Africa.

All of those options would impose heavy consequences for Spanish national security and foreign policy interests. Whatever policy pathway the Trump administration ultimately pursues, there is likely to be support within the US Congress for imposing harsh consequences on the Government of Spain. 

The Republican Party remains relatively united in demanding strong alignment on Chinese affairs from US allies and partners. That does not exist in the case of Spain right now, and many Republican elites are unwilling to continue to settle for the status quo. This is not the Biden era.

To be clear, this is a predicament of Sanchez’s own making. Since inauguration, Sanchez has been playing a high-stakes game of political poker with the Trump administration. Unfortunately, he has been using the bilateral strategic partnership as collateral in this game. 

At some point, both sides are going to have to show their hands. That could be disastrous for the future of US-Spain relations. Before that happens, the Sanchez administration would be wise to solicit non-partisan advice from the Spanish Ministry of Defense and National Intelligence Center. 

If domestic politics were taken off the table, one would have to imagine that those institutions would advise Sanchez against siding with the People’s Republic of China over the United States on the matter.

Michael Walsh is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute