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Madrid – The car tariffs that the US president, Donald Trump, wants to apply will have a limited impact in Spain, which barely exports 50,000 vehicles annually to that country, although the Government and the sector expect a joint and firm response from the European Union (EU), which sells practically 750,000 units a year.
The announcement to impose 25% tariffs on vehicle imports and its components comes after the Mercedes Vito van model produced in Vitoria—but which is now assembled in Mexico—and the Ford Tourneo Connect model from Ford Almussafes (Valencia) stopped being exported to the US.
Therefore, both the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, as well as the Minister of Industry, Jordi Hereu, and the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac) have referred this Thursday to the limited impact of this decision, although they have urged Europe to “make decisions accordingly”.
In an interview with EFE, the third vice president and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has “deeply” regretted that the US “puts tariff measures on the table” that “do not benefit anyone”.
“A word that Europe conjugates is to dialogue before reaching a point of equivalent measures, but if dialogue does not work, we will evidently work for those proportional measures,” she asserted.
The measure jeopardizes the European automotive sector, which in 2024 sold products to the US for 50.866 billion euros, according to Eurostat, of which 32.709 billion came from Germany alone. However, Spanish exports were 394 million.
Cuerpo explained that the US only absorbs 1.2% of Spanish vehicle exports, but highlighted that tariffs are not going to help a sector facing “structural challenges in the medium and long term” to move forward.
For its part, Anfac stressed to EFE that Spanish manufacturers did not export to the US in 2024, compared to the 51,703 vehicles exported the previous year, and it is expected that 2025 will continue with this trend of no exports to that country.
However, as explained by the association of official dealerships, Faconauto, this tariff may “likely” reduce the competitiveness of European vehicles in the US market, which will affect the entire supply and marketing network.
The Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers, Sernauto, warned of the “strong” impact that this measure could have on the European components manufacturing industry.
Major setback for the EU and special significance for Germany
Together with the United Kingdom, the US is the major destination to which cars manufactured in Europe are exported, which is why the European Commission has stated it is “prepared” to protect the economic interests of the EU and to provide a “firm” response to any “unfair” trade measure of that country.
The one most affected is Germany, which has urged the EU to respond firmly, as it accounts for two-thirds of what the European sector sells to the US.
Specifically, last year it exported 32.709 billion, 64.27% of the total EU exports.
Behind, far behind, is Italy, with exports valued at 4.549 billion, ahead of Sweden (3.789 billion) and Slovakia (3.175 billion).
The spokesperson of the European Commission, Olof Gill, has claimed that the institution is prepared to protect European economic interests “and, if necessary, we will provide a firm, proportional, strong, well-calibrated, and timely response to any unfair and counterproductive measure”.
Despite these statements, the Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), Sigrid de Vries, has assured EFE that she is “deeply concerned” by these tariffs and has urged Trump to consider the negative impact of the tariffs not only on global car manufacturers but also on the US manufacturing industry.
Although Trump had “talked a lot” about possible tariffs, ACEA was caught by surprise by “the extension of the tariffs, which are very disruptive” and added that it will have to be seen if others are added next week. (March 27)