Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced his government will launch a €14.1 billion aid package to reduce the domestic impact of United States President Donald Trump’s 20 percent tariff on all imports from the European Union.
As part of the package, Sánchez said that public loans worth €6 billion would be made available for companies affected by the levies, with an additional €400 million allocated to reinforce the automotive industry.
The funds will also be used to modernize the industrial sector, and for a new campaign that aims to promote Spanish products with the slogan “Our values are not for sale. But our products are.”
According to projections from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Europe’s fastest-growing economy stands to suffer losses of up to €4.3 billion as a result of Trump’s tariffs this year.
The agri-food sector is expected to be the worst hit: Exports of domestic olive oil, which currently bring in around €1 billion from U.S. consumers, could decline sharply, and the country’s wine sector could be devastated if Trump carries out his threat to respond to retaliatory EU tariffs on bourbon with a 200 percent levy on wines and spirits.
While Spain’s automotive sector barely exports any cars to the U.S., it is set to be indirectly impacted by the 25 percent tariffs announced by Washington last week because the country remains a leading manufacturer of mechanical components. Spain exported machinery and electrical equipment worth more than €4 billion to the U.S. in 2024.
Sánchez emphasized that his government’s labor laws will be used to protect workers in sectors impacted by what he described as an “unprecedented” and “unilateral” attack from the U.S.
He also rejected Trump’s assertion that the levies are “reciprocal,” describing them instead as “an excuse to punish countries, apply sterile protectionism, and raise revenue to try to mitigate a deficit caused by questionable fiscal policy.”
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