US tariffs could erase Spanish chemicals industry's growth this year

MADRID (Reuters) - The U.S. tariffs fallout could erase the expected growth of the Spanish chemicals industry this year, Feique, an industry group, said on Wednesday, as it advocated a total dismantling of tariffs on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Spanish chemicals industry's 3% output growth expected this year could fall to zero as a consequence of the U.S. tariffs, Feique said. The effects on a 3% growth of exports would be the same.

European Union countries are moving to retaliate against U.S. tariffs and the European Commission has offered a "zero-for-zero" tariff deal to avert a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Feique's General Director Juan Antonio Labat and Chair Teresa Rasero warned against a tit-for-tat trade war, saying that retaliatory measures should be seen as a last resort and, if deemed necessary, should be "surgical" to avoid a significant impact on the industry.

The zero-for-zero scenario would "undoubtedly" be the preferred outcome for the industry, Rasero said, followed by narrower sector deals.

"If all this does not work and Europe reacts with other measures, these measures should be almost surgical so that products that are vital for our supply chains can be exempted," she said.

Spain imports more than 8 billion euros ($8.84 billion) worth of chemical and pharmaceutical products from the U.S., while exporting some 3.5 billion euros to the country, its fifth largest market.

Feique expects industry revenue to grow more than 4% this year from 2024 to more than 89 billion euros, but lack of a trade agreement with the U.S. could cut this figure to around 1%, Labat said.

($1 = 0.9053 euros)

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, writing by Inti Landauro and editing by Andrei Khalip and Ed Osmond)