Wednesday, 24 September 2025, 13:06
Economic organisations are improving their growth estimates hoping that the trade war and the tariffs imposed by the US on the rest of the world will have less impact than expected in the short term. However, July data published by Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Trade reveals that sales to the US have slowed to a crawl. The trade war has led to the loss of 161 million euros in sales of Spanish products to the US in July alone – the month in which the final trade pact between Trump and the EU was signed, with a general 15% tax. So far this year, some 600 million euros have been lost in exports to the US, according to official ministry data.
In detail, Spanish exports to the US dropped by 10.4% compared to July last year, to over 1.5 billion euros. Between January and July, exports to the US fell by 5.9% to 10.3 billion euros. This contrasts with the increase in imports from the US, which rose by 11.6% to 18.5 billion. As a result of this gap between imports and exports, Spain’s trade deficit with the US soared by 46% up to July, to more than 8.2 billion. In fact, if we only look at the data for the month of July, the trade deficit has reached a maximum increase of 136%, up to 1.15 billion euros compared to 488 million last year.
By exported products, one of the most impacted by the trade war are those within the automotive industry. Trade figures indicate that car sales to the US fell by half in July: from 1.04 million euros in 2024 to 538,000 euros in 2025, according to Datacomex data. Vehicle exports from Spain on a global level fell by 8% from January to July, to 29.8 billion. Sales of automotive components dropped even more (9.4% less than a year ago).
If this trend were to become established, it would be a serious blow for such an important industry in Spain, which represents around 8% of the country’s GDP. In 2024, almost 2.4 million vehicles were manufactured in Spain, which is the second largest producer in Europe. If sales abroad fall, so will the number of units produced in Spain.
More sales to Asia and Latin America
The tariff agreement was also felt by the steel and aluminium sectors, which are subject to a 50% tariff. While exports in the first six months of the year had managed to remain stable, pending a beneficial agreement for the sector, the agreement signed in July that excluded this industry from the 15% general tariffs caused sales to fall by 4% compared to a year ago.
With this data on the table, Spanish companies are starting to look for other markets. Entering a new market is not easy, but data from the Ministry of Economy shows that sales are already growing in different parts of Asia and Latin America. Exports to EU countries rose by 6.5% in July, but those to Argentina (47%), Chile (22%) and Peru (8%) grew much more. In China, which is the US’ main competitor, companies sold 19% more than last year, 42% more in Indonesia and 7% more in South Korea.