Por Redaccion • Barbón: «Let’s act together, leave partisanship aside, and think only about Asturias»
• The plan designed by the regional government will implement new aid worth 17.3 million euros and redirect several support lines with an estimated expenditure of 12.8 million
• Close to a hundred Asturian companies regularly sell their products to the United States, and the Principality wants to safeguard their activity and employees
The president has convened the employers’ association and the unions today to jointly address the impact of the trade war on exporting companies
The Government of Asturias will mobilize over 30 million to support companies that regularly export to the United States, in order to mitigate the effects of the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump and secure employment. President Adrián Barbón held a meeting this morning with the employers’ association and the unions to present the proposals and jointly address the impact of the trade war on Asturian companies.
Barbón has made a call for unity to tackle this situation: «Let’s act together, leave partisanship aside, and think only about Asturias and the interests of Asturians because many jobs are at stake.» According to a study by Regiolab, this tariff policy will affect 2% of the Principality’s economy, which means «putting 7,500 jobs at risk due to the decision of the President of the United States,» he warned.
In 2024, the number of exporting companies to the United States reached 438. Of these, 98 sell to the country regularly, year after year. Nearly half are small companies dedicated to online commerce, and only 24 export over 500,000 euros. Together, they represent 4% of Asturian exports. However, the Principality’s government has an obligation to look after the community’s companies, their activity, and their employees. That is why it is prepared to implement support measures for those most affected by the new tariffs.
The specific actions that will be implemented by the Government of the Principality, as a complement to the aid already announced by the European Union and the Spanish government, involve an expenditure of 17.3 million and are as follows:
• Extraordinary allocation of 300,000 euros for the Foreign Promotion Society of the Principality of Asturias (Asturex). 10% of the annual budget of the public company will be allocated to promoting the opening of new markets and boosting trade relations with Mercosur and Southeast Asia. To this end, commercial missions will be scheduled during the second half of this year and the first of the next.
• Financial assistance line through Asturgar, endowed with seven million. The funds will be dedicated to actions related to market diversification and internationalization.
• Loan line for a maximum of ten million. Funds from various items will be redirected to finance projects for market diversification and internationalization.
In addition to these new initiatives, the Government of Asturias has also decided to redirect some actions and funds, with a total value of 12.9 million, to deepen support for companies affected by Trump’s tariff policy. These include:
• Reorientation of Asturex’s commercial activities and missions. The public company will offer affected companies a range of services and international promotion actions to minimize the impact of tariffs as much as possible.
• Advice from the Business Support Office, with the support of the Chambers of Commerce. These entities will advise Asturian companies, for example, on the different economic scenarios, the impact of new tariffs, exploring new markets, and developing contingency plans.
• Direct aid to improve competitiveness and search for new markets. This package, already planned in the budget of the Sekuens Agency for this year, includes several lines:
– Call for investment and diversification tractor projects of large companies, funded with 5,868,238 euros from the Just Transition Fund (FTJ).
– Call for investment and diversification projects for SMEs, also funded by the FTJ and with a budget of 2,685,882 euros.
– Call for aid to companies for international promotion, endowed with one million.