Spain’s prime minister has announced a package of measures worth €14.1bn to support the worst-hit sectors – including olive oil production
MADRID – Spanish olive oil producers said they could be forced to stop selling the “liquid gold” to the United States after Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 20 per cent on all European Union products.
Spain is the biggest producer of olive oil in the world and the United States is its most important export market outside the European Union.
Last year, Spain shipped 113,416 million tonnes of olive oil to the US, worth over €1bn (£0.84bn), according to Spanish government figures. This means Spanish oil commanded about 35 per cent of the US market.
This was a huge rise from the amount exported to America in 2023 when Spain sold olive oil worth €640m (£540m) to the US.
The Spanish Association of Olive Oil Exporters said that tariffs on olive oil imports to the US would increase the price for consumers.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said the tariffs announced by Trump were a “unilateral attack” by Washington against Europe.
He said this measure marked a return to “19th century protectionism which in my opinion, is not an intelligent way to meet the challenges of the 21st century”.
Sánchez announced a package of measures worth €14.1bn (£11.8bn) to support the Spanish sectors worst hit by the tariffs.
The US is an important export market for Spain’s ‘liquid gold’ (Photo: Getty Images)
These include producers of olive oil, wine, car parts and Iberian ham.
Juan Jimenez, the CEO of Green Gold Olive Oil Company, said the US represented between 10-15 per cent of all the company’s exports.
However, Trump’s tariffs could make Spanish olive oil “uncompetitive”.
“For us it is going to be impossible to see. Let’s see how the final tariff is but with 20 per cent tariff it is not going to be possible to sell. My importer will not buy it.
“Generally, for Spain it is going to be a hard time, it is going to be very complex. The US is one of Spain’s biggest markets. It is one of the three biggest markets for Spain.”
Jimenez said the tariffs would mean he would have to sell his harvest to other markets at a lower price.
Green Gold’s biggest market is Japan, which accounts for about 40 per cent of exports.
Before the UK voted to leave the EU, he exported about 5 per cent to Britain but after Brexit he does not sell any olive oil to the UK.
Miguel Padilla, of the Farmers and Agriculture Organization (COAG), said: “The trade war initiated by Trump is a senseless nonsense that will benefit no one, least of all the American consumer.”
In 2017, the US imposed tariffs on Spanish olives, citing the harm to American producers due to the EU subsidies directed to help Spanish olive producers from the Common Agricultural Policy.
The ruling body of Rioja wines – Britons’ favourite Spanish wine – condemned Trump’s tariffs.
José Luis Lapuente, director general of the Rioja winemakers ruling council, said: “The system of tariffs does not make sense and is not going to achieve the objectives which the American government wants to achieve. They should think about the effect this will have: the loss of jobs and the worsening economic situation.”
Wine producers in Spain previously said they would have to withdraw from the US market if Trump went ahead with threats to impose tariffs of up to 200 per cent.