Santander boss warns of escalating trade tensions after US tariffs
4 April 2025, 11:24
The Spanish bank flagged heightened geopolitical uncertainty and market turbulence in the first few months of 2025.
Santander has said it is monitoring the fallout of US tariff announcements and helping its customers through the “volatility” as the financial markets continue to be rocked by President Donald Trump’s plans.
The Spanish bank flagged heightened geopolitical uncertainty and market turbulence in the first few months of 2025.
Since becoming US president at the beginning of the year, Mr Trump has been imposing new and higher tariffs on countries and goods that are imported into the country.
These are intended to boost production in the US and support home-grown goods – but the plans triggered a major change to long-standing global trade relations.
Wall Street indexes the S&P 500 and Dow Jones suffered their worst day of trading since 2020 on Thursday, the day after the president unveiled his full range of tariffs.
Ana Botin, Santander’s executive chairwoman, said: “The recent announcements in the US regarding tariffs reflect an escalation in trade tensions.
“As a bank our focus is on helping clients navigate the volatility and we are committed to doing that. Our markets, however, remain resilient.”
She also said, in remarks prepared for the bank’s annual general meeting held in Madrid on Friday, that employment data was “very good”.
Banks care about this data because more people losing their jobs can mean more customers falling into financial difficulty or arrears.
“Looking forward, we expect to continue increasing profitability in 2025,” Ms Botin said.
“While we are monitoring the implications of recent tariff announcements in the US, it is in challenging times when the value of our diversification is most apparent.”
Santander grew the number of customers it banks with in the first three months of the year and said it was on track to meet its 2025 financial targets.
These include generating around 62 billion euros (£52.4 billion) in revenues and reducing business costs, while it is also expecting to increase profitability in the first quarter of 2025.
