La Junta se reúne para tratar aranceles de Estados Unidos a Europa

The Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue, and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz; the Minister of Economy, Finance, and European Funds, Carolina España; the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco; and the Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mines, Jorge Paradela, have held a meeting at San Telmo with the president of CEA, Javier González de Lara; the general secretary of UGT Andalucía, Óskar Martín; and the general secretary of CCOO Andalucía, Nuria López, at the social dialogue table to discuss U.S. tariffs on Europe. After the meeting, the participants have conveyed a message of unity, prudence, and moderation while advocating for a collective strategy to address the challenges that may arise from the imposition of tariffs.

Antonio Sanz has emphasized that the Andalusian government has «always supported Social Dialogue» and is convinced that «together, we will provide solutions to mitigate the negative effects of the decisions of the U.S. government.»

The Minister has called for «a moment of politics with capital letters,» which can only be achieved through collaboration and coordination between the central government and the autonomous communities. In this regard, he has assured that «Andalusia will continue to offer maximum collaboration and loyalty to the Government of Spain» and has stressed that «unity is the best tool to face the situation.»

Antonio Sanz has argued that «Andalusia advocates for the European Union to provide a strong response to safeguard the interests of all its members,» while also emphasizing the need to «avoid at all costs that this conflict escalates into a trade war,» warning that «tariffs do not only affect agricultural sectors» and alerting that «a trade war and the imposition of tariffs will impact not only companies but also inflation, employment, and the Andalusian GDP,» directly compromising «the progress and well-being of Andalusians.»

The Minister has also announced that the Andalusian government will promote «support for the internationalization of our companies», with specific measures for the most affected sectors, such as agri-food, as well as the search for «alternative markets» in light of the difficulties in accessing the U.S. market.

On the other hand, the Minister of Economy, Finance, and European Funds, Carolina España, has assessed the impact of tariffs on Andalusian exports during the first four months of the year. The main product exported to the U.S. continues to be olive oil (259.8 million euros in the first four months of 2025, 28% of all exported by Andalusia to the U.S.), with a decrease of 12.1% year-on-year compared to the same period last year, explained by the price reduction, while the volume grows significantly (45.2%).

Carolina España has highlighted that the data confirms that Andalusia «has done its homework» since the beginning of the legislature, allowing Andalusian companies to have been exploring alternative markets for some time within the strategy implemented by the Junta, hand in hand with Andalucía Trade, for the strengthening and development of the Andalusian business fabric.

In this sense, she has emphasized that Trade has reinforced promotional activities both in the U.S. and in alternative markets, including an olive table campaign in India, and has praised the good pace of the Commercial Intelligence service, which has multiplied by seven the requests attended compared to the beginning of the year. Along the same lines, the Minister has highlighted the monitoring that the Junta maintains on the affected sectors, with meetings with the main exporting companies in each area, aligning the tools implemented with the real needs of the productive fabric.

Furthermore, Carolina España has mentioned the imminent approval of a new line of incentives for internationalization through Andalucía Trade, aimed at enabling Andalusian companies to participate in commercial missions and fairs in new destinations.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has also expressed concern about the impact that the increase in tariffs by the U.S. on Andalusian agri-food products, especially olive oil, would have, the most exported product to the U.S., with nearly 59,700 tons and 860 million euros of exports in 2024, and table olives, which exported 164 million euros in the same year, would be severely affected by new tariff pressure, leading to their exit from the market.

In this regard, Agriculture has emphasized the need to eliminate these tariffs, which it describes as «unfair» and would economically affect Andalusian producers, who are a source of wealth for the region. While awaiting a balanced agreement between the European Union and the U.S., the Ministry has activated several measures to help the profitability of the sectors that would be most affected and has requested from the Government of Spain a more proactive diplomacy in negotiations and policies oriented towards the olive sector, such as those led by the Junta de Andalucía.

Finally, the Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mines, Jorge Paradela, has highlighted the industrial policy that the Junta’s government has been developing with a horizon of 2030 to «address the different scenarios that may arise in the short, medium, and long term.»

Only in the area of the Ministry of Industry, Energy, and Mines, financial support instruments exceeding 700 million euros have been allocated for this year 2025, aimed at supporting industrial and mining activities.

Jorge Paradela has highlighted among these instruments «a novel line of integrated incentives for competitiveness and energy for industrial value chains, sustainable mining, and productive spaces, endowed with 250 million euros.»

In addition, he has noted that Complementary Incentives to Regional Economic Incentives (IER) for tractor projects in the manufacturing, aerospace, and advanced logistics industries amount to 150 million euros, and another 157 million in aid has been made available to the industrial fabric to boost ten tractor projects through the Just Transition Fund for the provinces of Almería, Córdoba, and Cádiz in strategic sectors such as naval, aerospace, green hydrogen, sustainable aviation, or advanced logistics.

The President of CEA, Javier González de Lara, has conveyed the main concerns of the sectors and has stated that, «in this situation, a joint and coordinated action to protect the Andalusian business fabric is essential,» while calling for a «coordinated response.»

The employers’ association has urged the Junta de Andalucía to strengthen its joint action with Madrid and Brussels, activating all available mechanisms to defend Andalusian interests, providing export companies with support measures focused on liquidity, international promotion, and market diversification. «Andalusia today more than ever needs the decisive support of its institutions to protect decades of export capacity,» emphasized González de Lara.

On the other hand, the general secretary of UGT Andalucía, Óskar Martín, has proposed to the Andalusian government a series of urgent measures to protect Andalusian employment from U.S. tariffs, such as creating a commercial contingency fund to provide liquidity to exporting companies, a selective fiscal moratorium on regional taxes, a monitoring table with union and institutional participation, and a market diversification plan towards countries like Canada, Japan, and Latin America, in addition to the possibility of carrying out an international campaign to promote Andalusian products as a synonym for quality and social responsibility.

In the medium term, Óskar Martín has advocated for «a sustainable reindustrialization strategy that promotes sectors such as green economy and renewable energies, along with the modernization of the agri-food industry through digitalization and added value,» while emphasizing that «these tariffs should not be borne by workers, and it is essential to strengthen social dialogue in economic decisions to ensure a fair outcome that prioritizes the general interest and avoids job destruction.»