Spanish companies have already benefited from 5.55 billion to alleviate the damage from Trump’s tariff offensive, almost half of the money that the Government put on the table. A year after the United States began an unprecedented trade warthe Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, has taken stock in Congress of those 12 months and the Spanish response. The first vice president, who has also appeared at his own request before the Economy, Commerce and Industry Commission, has reviewed the different initiatives that the Executive launched, most of which have been well received. Although a shadow also appears: the line of 5,000 million guarantees from the Official Credit Institute (ICO), which companies have barely resorted to.
“In the current context of uncertainty, it is essential to continue prioritizing support for our companies in their effort to remain in the North American market and send a message of confidence and tranquility with the presence of tools at their disposal to protect them from this specific shock and accompany them or prepare for possible shocks “Futures”, highlighted Corporal in his speech. This has served to present the first balance of execution of the Response Plan and Commercial Relaunch approved in the early stages of the trade war.
Of the 11,730 million euros with which the plan was provided, distributed across seven major axes, companies have received at the end of the first quarter of 2026 an injection of 5,550 million euros. This represents 47.3% of the total funds. The general percentage, however, hides the little appetite that the ICO guarantees have so far generated, the instrument that had the largest endowment (5,000 million euros). Since April 2025, only 173 million euros of these guarantees have been requested, just 3.4% of the total. Despite this, the Minister of Economy has emphasized that 73% of the operations were carried out by SMEs and that 85% of the requests came from related companies. to the automotive sector, the sector most punished by Trump’s tariffs.
The balance presented this Wednesday also shows the reduced execution of the ICO Growth line, endowed with 750 million plus a non-refundable tranche of 180 million from European Next Generation funds, for investment projects and modernization of infrastructure. In that case, the low demand responds to the fact that the line came into force on February 9 and in those two months there has only been time to award 73.4 million, 7.8% of the total.
On the other hand, the rest of the instruments have been widely used. Among them, Corpo has highlighted the mobilization of 1,578 million euros in credit insurance through Cesce (the Spanish Export Credit Agency), which has benefited 52 accounts. “Right now another 14 requests for an additional 800 million are being studied,” the vice president said. Secondly, he cited the 1,500 million euros granted through the funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and the 1,161 million euros granted, until March 30, from the financing line intermediated by the ICO for investment and working capital.
In its speech, Corpus has committed to accompanying and supporting companies exporting to the United States, but has also urged companies to diversify the destination of their sales with the aim of avoiding Trump’s protectionist policies. “We must reduce dependencies and strengthen relationships with reliable and stable partners,” he noted, referring to Mercosur (the free trade area made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) and other areas with which the EU has signed trade agreements, such as India, Australia or Indonesia.
The minister has highlighted the relevance of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which comes into effect next May 1because of the opportunity it represents for some of the sectors most affected by United States tariffs. “More than 90% of tariffs on European exports are going to be eliminated and that will mean savings of 4,000 million euros annually for European companies and 500 million for Spanish companies,” said Body.
