The Alicante Economy Looks to Central America and Asia as Alternative Markets to the United States

On Wednesday, the tariffs announced by Donald Trump have sparked a whirlwind of responses and reactions from the international community. The President of the United States, as he had been announcing for some time, has imposed a 20% tax on European Union products.

These tariffs will significantly affect the province of Alicante, where sectors such as footwear and agriculture have a substantial portion of their revenue dependent on trade with North America. The Alicante Chamber of Commerce estimates that the province exports nearly 500 million euros to the United States, a situation that could be impacted by the new tariffs from the Trump administration.

In this context, during the presentation on Wednesday in Alicante of the report 'Panorámica Alicante: Balance 2024 and Perspectives 2025', prepared by the Alicante Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Caixabank, the tariffs inevitably took centre stage. The president of the chamber admitted the negative impact these tariffs will have and referred to the need to seek new markets.

In this regard, the Chamber of Commerce has focused on areas such as Central America and Southeast Asia to develop trade and internationalisation missions. The chamber is already preparing some missions to countries like Mexico, Panama, or Costa Rica, as well as Vietnam and Cambodia, while seeking to strengthen renewed relations with Algeria.

The president of the Chamber, Carlos Baño, has stated that several companies affected by the tariffs have already shown interest in these trade missions. Baño explained in subsequent statements to the media that "we are diversifying markets and must continue to analyse them to mitigate the situation with the United States."

A situation that is "very difficult," admits Baño, who highlights that the United States "is one of the most important markets in the world and has a high income." In fact, from Alicante, 6.5% of total exports go to this country, two points above the Spanish average.

Despite the fact that "finding alternatives is not easy," Baño insists that "we have no choice but to diversify and seek new markets to avoid relying on just one." In this regard, the Chamber points to the East, especially to Southeast Asian countries, as some of these emerging markets, while also planning actions in Central America and Algeria.

Baño explains that in this country there is "a very important emerging market that lacks products that we do have in Alicante" and details that from the Chamber "we have conducted several convenience analyses to see where we could go to find a new market."

Baño calls for "not being dramatic but realistic" and demands that the Spanish Government defend the interests of "our country and consider the countermeasure of penalising certain North American products necessary for our economy."

In this line, the president of the chamber has assured that "we cannot generalise and impose a massive penalty" and calls for analysing item by item before launching a response that Europe has indicated will be "forceful."

Baño explains that "Spain is very weak to face the United States alone" and asks Europe to be "careful with our response in all cases, as it could mean shooting ourselves in the foot."