Spanish companies prepare to face the consequences of Biden's arrival in the White House
Spanish business activity in the United States could be altered with the arrival of Joe Biden in power. In order to analyse in depth the importance of the change, the Madrid Business Forum has organised a talk entitled 'The Biden Administration: What can Spanish companies expect?' Antonio Camuñas, lawyer, consultant and former president of the Spain-United States Chamber of Commerce moderated the event and stated that the change of administration should not mean a big change for Spanish companies with activities in the North American country, as we are sufficiently prepared to adapt to the major changes that are to come. The meeting was attended by representatives of leading companies in their respective sectors, Miguel López-Quesada, Corporate Director of Communication, Marketing and Institutional Relations at Gestamp, Francisco Polo, Director of Communication at Ferrovial and Ignacio Cuenca, Director of Communication at Iberdrola.
The 5G battle will be one of the keys to the future of the network worldwide. The United States and China are several steps ahead of Europe, which still does not know how to tackle the evolution that seems to be imminent. Miguel López-Quesada said that many countries have not yet realised the importance of the 5G domain in the near future: "In the 5G battle we are playing for the energy of the future", he said in his speech.
One of the biggest concerns is the extent to which the US strategy regarding new technologies will change with the arrival of Joe Biden in power. However, the problem, says Miguel López-Quesada, does not lie there, as he believes "it is not a problem of dealing with Democrats or Republicans". In general terms, the action plan will not be very different from that of Donald Trump, who was openly against renewable energies or the fight to curb climate change, aspects that should change with Biden's arrival at the White House.
As with almost all aspects of American innovation, efforts are focused on the California area. Francisco Polo placed special emphasis on the project underway to build a high-speed train in this state, but the differences in the financing formulas between Trump and the governor of California, Gavin Newson, led to a momentary halt to a project that they hope to resume with the arrival of the new president. However, he also highlighted the superiority that Spain still has with respect to road infrastructures in the United States, which he says "still has a long way to go".
This "inferiority" is the reason why Iberdrola wants to multiply its investment in the North American country and continue to invest in it, as its Director of Communications, Ignacio Cuenca, commented. In its day they detected that "the United States needed infrastructures and we took advantage of it". And so it continues to be. It is not only rail communications that need to be improved. If they want to meet the challenge of 5G, they must greatly improve their network and communication infrastructure, or else other powers will be able to take the lead in what will be one of the keys to the future of energy across the planet.
The huge difference between the western United States and the rest of the country in terms of innovation means that there are major discrepancies: "While in California, all they think about is Tesla, in the rest of the country there is only the American truck they have always known", argued Miguel López-Quesada. Above all, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's strong commitment to modernisation has put the rest of the companies in the sector in check, making it the first company in the world to accept cryptocurrencies in exchange for physical assets, being able to buy a car using Bitcoin. This added, of course, to the very strong investment that Tesla has made in this cryptocurrency, acquiring assets worth more than 1,500 million dollars, makes the company led by the CEO of Space X one of the world leaders in the automotive sector.