The family business calls for "state pacts" to address the tariff chaos.

Madrid"State pacts." This is what the president of the Family Business Institute (IEF), Ignacio Rivera, has asked of the political parties, and in particular the PSOE and PP, to address the tariff chaos resulting from Donald Trump's arrival at the White House. "We have a great opportunity to reach an agreement and reach a state pact," the president of the IEF demanded this Wednesday, during the closing of the organization's annual assembly in Madrid. The Family Business Institute brings together around 100 companies from across the country, including Ferrovial and Puig.

The business conclave, in fact, took place one day before the Spanish lower house voted on the Spanish government's decree with the measures to protect workers and businesses from the trade warDespite the fact that Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has negotiated with all sides, that is, with both the investiture partners and the opposition, the Popular Party (PP) has refused to support the decree that will be voted on this Thursday. Thus, Pedro Sánchez's government depends on its partners. However, in principle, it will have no problems after agreeing with Junts that the tariff subsidies will be tailored to Catalonia and its export weight. In any case, this Wednesday afternoon, Junts sources explained that they plan to meet with Cuerpo on Thursday morning to finalize some details. For its part, Podemos has said it will abstain.

Geopolitical tensions

Regarding the role of business in achieving these state pacts, Rivera was self-critical: "We haven't done our homework, and we business leaders must help achieve consensus on issues such as immigration, defense, energy, and housing," he said.

However, the IEF's annual meeting on Wednesday was marked by Pedro Sánchez's appearance in the Congress of Deputies, where he reported on the power outage and defense spending. The leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was unable to open the event (Bravo).

However, some notable socialist figures did attend: the former Foreign Minister, Arancha González Laya, and the former head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. Their speeches were in line with those of the president of the IEF, placing geopolitical tensions at the center and, above all, the shift in relations between Europe and the United States following Trump's arrival at the White House. Borrell, for example, has started the discussion of European defense without the umbrella of the United States and has even estimated the cost of replacing the United States army in Europe at 200 billion euros. In this sense, Rivera has asked Europe, but also Spain, to look toward Latin America so as not to be caught between the North American country and China. The president of the IEF has boasted about trade agreements such as Mercosur. "Spanish companies have the opportunity to try to lead or help the [European] continent with an alternative to the two hegemonic axes," Rivera said.