Miquel Sàmper: "Trump teaches us that all our eggs can't be put in one basket."

Miquel Sàmper, Minister of Business and Employment of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), believes that the threat of the trade war unleashed by Donald Trump can be transformed into an opportunity for growth and market diversification for Catalonia and its companies. The government will mobilize €25 million in direct aid. The goal is to reach 19,000 Catalan companies that regularly export (with sales abroad in the last four years) and to open 300 subsidiaries of Catalan companies abroad, adding to the existing ones to reach 3,500. What is the international trade strategy?

— Basically, we need to turn what is a clear threat into an opportunity. We would be much better off if the United States hadn't started this trade war with the entire world. What we should do, instead of shrinking, is try to turn this into a real opportunity. The Catalan economy has held up, and in the first half of the year we even grew our exports by 1.4%.

But what should we do now?

— It's a problem that will surely affect exports in the second half of the year. The Generalitat (Catalan Government), in addition to listening to the sectors and taking note of each one's specific problems, offers clear aid. Up to 90,000 euros for market diversification. Up to 80,000 euros for creating subsidiaries abroad. Up to 30,000 euros for international promotions. And up to 90,000 euros for designing strategic changes in our companies' trade policy. The American market has caused a commercial shock, but we must strengthen all other markets around the world.

What do you want to achieve?

— We aim to maintain Catalonia's export leadership in the country as a whole in five years. We account for 26% of Spanish exports. We want to export more, attract more foreign investment, and have our companies establish more subsidiaries and branches abroad to diversify their risks. Therefore, when there's a crisis, having subsidiaries in India, China, Mexico, or Brazil allows a Catalan company, which may be suffering here, to survive because it has a subsidiary abroad.

Among these risks, we've always talked about the United States, which ultimately isn't a very important part of our exports, but now China's pork tariffs are joining the mix.

— It's a very sensitive sector, because Catalonia is also a leader in pork and the food sector. The provisional tariff on Chinese pork, compared to us, is the most favorable of all. That is to say, however, we are better treated, and the foreign policy that has been implemented, both by the State and by us, who have already made two visits to China, has something to do with it. Even so, it has a very significant impact on the pork sector. We are working, with Minister Ordeig and the Ministry, to try to determine what policy we can use to further reduce these tariffs.

Seat has abandoned the United States and will now focus on the Middle East. Larger companies can make this strategic shift, but most exporters here are SMEs, and their ability to make these changes is much more complicated. How can they do it?

— That's where the aid goes, and applications are now open. We've already provided 200 specific and personalized support programs to companies that have requested it, and up to 1,000, if we count the seminars, conferences, and workshops to reduce the impact of Trump's policy. The Government is specifically supporting the companies that need it most, which are small and medium-sized businesses. This aid isn't closed. Current changing policies require us to ensure it's not closed, but open. From this department, the Department of Economy, and the Department of Agriculture, we have a multi-year plan of €50 million.

Is it a commercial mistake to have the European Union countries as our main partners?

— Now we want to promote closer relations with those markets that enjoy free trade: the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Morocco, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, and, soon, Mercosur and India. Despite the United States, we still have interesting markets. We Catalans need to see where we can export and how to turn a major threat into an opportunity. I'm convinced we'll be able to do it. At the end of October, we'll be traveling to Mexico. We're already preparing for Mercosur and, obviously, Asia, with the trips we've already made to Korea, Japan, and China.

Can we be the gateway to China?

— An excellent gateway to Europe for China, and also to South America. But trade is win-winThey have to win, and we have to win. We will be great partners as long as there are investments that generate prosperity and wealth in Catalonia or that allow us to create subsidiaries in China. The US situation teaches us that all our eggs can't be put in one basket. With this aid from us, our entrepreneurs must pursue a very decisive export policy focused on diversification. We must be present in all the world's markets, because we shouldn't be affected by a political decision by a major power.

The agreement with Mercosur may be an opportunity, but it is also a threat to some sectors.

— It's a market we're studying. It opens up a possibility for collaboration that we must know how to exploit intelligently, so that Mercosur members benefit from Europe and so that we Europeans benefit from the member countries. There's a market for everyone. We must be smart so that Europe-Mercosur relations get off to a good start and so that everyone benefits.

Will more ACCIÓ offices be necessary for this policy?

— What we're analyzing, with the Foreign Ministry, is that there are offices that have probably ceased to make sense and there are places we need to go. For example, in China, where we have four offices, we need to open more. We'll have to go to India. There's also Singapore, Korea, Vietnam... We have to see where to go. And here what we need to look at is—and now I'm moving away from tariffs—generating autonomy. We must be autonomous with semiconductors, with chips. We must ensure that Catalonia is capable of being autonomous in as many things as possible that a person needs to live. With the pandemic, we saw that they weren't selling chips and that we couldn't make a single washing machine. We must take advantage of the fact that we're now growing tremendously in technology.

As?

— We must harness this momentum, tap into the tremendous talent Catalonia possesses, and foster an incredible leap forward. We must maintain everything we've produced so far, of course, but we must also take a leap forward by creating much more advanced, technological things.

The problem is that this requires a lot of investment, right?

— We're trying to strike a balance between the foreign investment we're seeking and that from here. And we're doing quite well, because this year we've surpassed the €1 billion mark raised by the Generalitat (Catalan government). But in Catalonia, we have some top-notch businesspeople who already know where they should invest and are doing so. Between an investment from abroad and a local company building the semiconductor factory Catalonia needs, I'd vote for a Catalan company to do it. And we'll be at their side.