The export industry does not detect a shift away from US companies.
The Amec employers' association warns of the decline of companies that occasionally come abroad.
MadridDespite the tariff chaos, the Spanish export industry maintains its trade relationship with the United States. "Companies are not abandoning the United States; they are seeking to diversify, but they see that the game is not over," said Joan Tristany, general director of the Association of Internationalized Industrial Companies (Amec), this Monday. The employers' association that brings together some of Spain's main exporting industrial companies has detected that, despite the uncertainty, companies are maintaining sales in the United States, especially because the negotiations to channel the trade war have not concluded, which still leads them to see a window open to a solution.
"The feeling [among exporting companies] is that the game is not over and the end is open. They trust that tension will decrease because tariffs hurt the United States economy and its companies," reiterated the director of Amec. This reflection comes at a time when the Spanish government, within the framework of the shock plan for tariffs, has opened a program to accompany companies in seeking alternatives to the US market.
In fact, Tristán has anticipated that the Amec companies' pre-trade war forecast of "good export performance" in 2025 has not changed. "[In 2025, exports] will increase by double digits [compared to 2024]," stated the director of the employers' association. Although the weight of the US market in the state's total exports is less than 5%, Amec values the fact that export forecasts remain positive due to the indirect impact of Donald Trump's tariff policy—the impact on countries like Mexico can have consequences for company sales (machinery, chemical products, or pharmaceuticals)—the export volume is much higher.
Fewer one-off exports
Amec's reflections have coincided with the annual presentation of the Internationalization Solidity Index (ISI), prepared by this employers' association in conjunction with the University of Barcelona (UB), and which shows an improvement in the internationalization of the Spanish economy. Specifically, in 2024 the index levels grew by 12.10. A total of 19 indicators are evaluated for its preparation, including the number of regular exporting companies, the weight of exports on GDP or investment abroad ~
solidity [of the internationalization of the economy] necessary in a time of global uncertainty, which allows Spain to face external tensions with greater resilience," the executive added.
However, it has not all been good news. During the presentation of the indicator, Amec warned of the fall in the export base. This means that many of the exporting companies that came abroad on an ad hoc basis have disappeared (the companies regular, those that have maintained the commercial link for more than four years, remain the same).
Beyond geopolitical tensions, Tristán has also linked this decline to the good performance of the Spanish economy: "One explanation is that the situation of economic growth [in Spain] means that there are fewer companies that are forced to sell outside on an ad hoc basis [...]. Also depending on whether they have it more or less easy. If they have it more or less easy. of occasional exporters." For the employers' association Amec, the problem with this is that the base on which to later consolidate regular exporting companies does not grow.
