The new president of the United States has marked a clear strategic course for his country. He drew it in his investiture speech: it consists of promoting the Oil, gas and coal extraction And, with that cheap energy ‘boom’, developing a Made in USA manufacturing industry and promoting artificial intelligence. No green energy trace.
Donald Trump has suppressed fiscal incentive programs to renewable technology companies promoted by his predecessor Joe Biden. Ha also eliminated the advantages for electric vehicles. And he has brought the United States out of Paris agreements, fighting climate change. The message is clear: the priority to make “América Grande again” is not in electric cars, wind turbines or in solar panels, but in the great possibilities of the Internet watered with cheap energy, although dirty, and few taxes. That is why the magnates of the main technological ones (Apple, Meta, X, Amazon) were in the front row at its inauguration. And for the same reason he has announced a plan of half a billion dollars (of doubtful viability) to boost the AI.
In this context, for Spain and the European Union opens a window of opportunity. The hole that the United States leaves in the sustainable economy can be occupied by Chinese companies and companies in the old continent. Regarding the latter, especially options for Spanish, according to a report of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Spain (AMCHAMSPAIN). The organization brings together 270 major US and Spanish societies with an aggregate turnover of 250,000 million euros. Among them are Amazon Spain, Bank of America, Alcoa, Astrazeneca, Coca-Cola and Google.
“In a global transformation context towards sustainable models and reorganization of global value chains, Spain has a unique opportunity: to position itself as a sustainable industry and technology attraction pole and an energy reference in Europe,” reads the ‘, is read in the’ Strategic proposal Spain: new industrial, digital and energy power‘of the Amchamspain. “With abundant renewable resources, a solid industrial infrastructure and a strategic geographical location, the country is well positioned to double the weight of the industry, reaching 22% of GDP by the year 2035.”
Renewable to reindustrialize
Thus, while Trump proposes for the United States a cheap contaminant energy flow based on hydrocarbons with which to launch a “golden age” of its economy, the United States Chamber of Commerce suggests for Spain to use the renewable energy mana to reindustrialize the country and make your industry go from representing the 11% of GDP to 18%.
“The renewable generation capacity of Spain, added to an environment of stability and competitiveness in prices, offers a highly attractive context to attract industries for which the cost of energy is a determining factor,” reads the report. “Sectors such as metallurgy, glass, ceramics, cement, chemistry, paper, fertilizers, automotive and other energy intensive, as well as the data centers necessary for the display of artificial intelligence and medication research centers, require a stable and affordable energy supply to be able to operate profitably. Spain, with its energy offer, has the potential to become the preferred destination for these sectors in Europe, consolidating itself as a pole of high -value industry attraction integrated in global value chains. ”
And it is not just the abundance of sun and wind resources and a management of large spaces “significantly superior” to that of the rest of Europe. It is that government regulation and private sector investment decisions have allowed more than 50% of energy from renewable sources to be generated. That energy can reach companies thanks to a “robust and efficient electricity grid“And boost technological development thanks to the” wide deployment of efficient latest -capacity and speed state networks. ” The country has reached a 92% coverage in 5G and 96% in fiber.
The counterpoint is that, in recent times, however, and after the energy crisis unleashed by the Ukraine War, Spain has embraced oil and gas in the United States. The American country became at the beginning of last year the largest supplier of crude oil and liquefied natural gas in the Spanish energy system, after shooting its sales in the last two years due to the crisis, David Page reported.
EU strategy against the United States
This week, the United States has come out by order of Donald Trump of large institutions and international agreements, of the aforementioned Paris Agreement to WHO, through the treaty to impose a minimum of 15% of taxes on multinationals. Faced with that blow to multilateralism, the European Union plans to respond by diversifying its trade with other countries and maintaining the course in fundamental issues of economic security and strategic autonomy.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, He took the red card to the president of the United States on Wednesday. He warned in Davos that millions of American jobs depend on the EU. And he pointed out that Brussels will diversify its commercial partners, including India, where the president will travel in the next few days, and China. The United States has been asking the EU to disappoint its value chain from the Asian giant. Washington considers Beijing a systemic rival in public and, in private, a threat to the American order.
“Our values are maintained, but to defend them in a changing world, we must change our way of acting. We must look for new opportunities where they arise. This is the time to go beyond blocks and taboos “said von der Leyen.
In particular, he pointed to a little known fact but confers to the EU some lever against industrial and technological domain of the United States: the EU has 1.4 billion euros in financial savings, compared to the 800,000 million of the American country. Ask to create an authentic common capital market. To promote, with this, the future of the EU and Spain in the new economic world order.
