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Spain has prepared for an escalating trade war with the US, and its strong relationship with other European nations can help insulate it from possible economic pain, said Carlos Cuerpo, the country’s minister of economy, trade, and business, at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Wednesday.
“Spain is actually the only major economy that had its [growth] forecast revised upwards yesterday,” Cuerpo told Semafor’s Alexis Akwagyiram, referring to the International Monetary Fund’s economic projections released this week.
A reason for optimism, Cuerpo said, is that Spain isn’t alone in any trade battle. “One of the benefits of the current situation is that Europe is really rallying around the unified approach,” he said, pointing to the combined economic strength of the European market, too. The European Union boasts 450 million consumers, he added, giving it leverage if it acts as a bloc.
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Spain has been prioritizing relief for companies in sectors that are more exposed to tariff pain than others, such as autos and agriculture, Cuerpo said, while acknowledging that the situation remains fluid.
For now, the country is closely monitoring the tariffs to determine whether it will need to adjust its response. Cuerpo stressed that there remains a window of opportunity for talks with the US to avert further economic turmoil.
At the same time, Spain is looking to act as a “bridge” between Europe and Latin America as the continent looks to expand its network of trading partners and allies beyond Washington. Cuerpo added that the EU could reconsider its relationship with Beijing in light of pressure from the US, too. “We know that China is a rival, is a competitor in many areas, but it also has to be a strategic ally to the extent possible,” Cuerpo said.
The Semafor View
The boundaryless pools of money that defined finance in the last 20 years are retreating, and capital is becoming a national resource to be protected. Public and private markets seem set to converge: Where they meet — and which firms stake out territory — could determine finance’s winners over the next decade.
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