The Diplomat
Spanish companies saved in 2022 almost 2.4 billion euros thanks to the tariff advantages of trade agreements that the EU maintains with more than 70 countries in the world.
This was indicated this past Tuesday by the deputy director general and Chief Trade Enforcement Officer of the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, the Frenchman Denis Redonnet, during his speech at the Market Access Day Spain, organized in Madrid by ICEX Spain Export and Investment, in collaboration with the Directorate General for Trade Policy of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the European Commission, on the occasion of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and aimed at Spanish companies and professionals.
“Spanish companies benefit from EU trade agreements, with savings of 2.38 billion euros in 2022 thanks to the tariff preferences provided by these agreements,” said Redonnet during the event, which explained to Spanish companies the European instruments and tools for accessing international markets, such as the Access2Markets portal (which provides detailed information on tariffs, rules of origin, taxes and additional duties, import procedures and formalities, product requirements, trade barriers and trade flow statistics) and the Single Entry Point (Single Entry Point).
“The EU’s network of trade agreements with more than 74 countries around the world offers Spanish companies opportunities to trade and invest in markets outside the EU, where more than 80% of global growth is generated,” he continued. “The European Commission is committed to helping Spanish companies of all sizes to make the most of these agreements, creating opportunities for growth, employment and revenue generation,” said Denis Redonnet.
For his part, the Director General for Trade Policy of the Secretary of State for Trade, Juan Francisco Martínez, said that “the Spanish Government is committed to continuing to support the internationalization of the Spanish economy and, therefore, to helping companies to make the most of the advantages that the EU’s extensive network of trade agreements with third countries, negotiated within the framework of the common trade policy, offers them”.
The event was also attended by the Chief Advisor of the Spanish Economic and Trade Office in London, Álvaro Nadal. In addition to experts from the European Commission and Spanish companies with presence and experience in the US markets, such as Telefónica and Castillo de Canena, and British companies, such as Typsa, Idom, Codorníu and Navantia.
The aim of the conference was also to analyze the U.S. and U.K. markets, two particularly relevant markets for Spanish exporting companies in the services, goods and public procurement sectors. This analysis was carried out by experts from the European Commission, as well as a selection of Spanish companies with direct experience in these countries.
“The United States and the United Kingdom are extremely important trade destinations for Spanish companies,” said Juan Francisco Martínez. “To access both markets, Spanish companies have at their disposal valuable support and information tools at both national and European level and, to address trade barriers, especially in certain sectors, such as services and the agri-food industry, companies also have the support of the entire network of the Secretary of State for Trade,” he added. During the conference, attendees had the opportunity to learn about the experiences of Spanish companies that have faced and overcome various trade barriers in these markets.
