Spain and the United States - Real Instituto Elcano

82
SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES
the best places to start. Miami is fine as a gateway to Latin America (it is
commonly known as “the capital of Latin America”) or for targeting Hispanics
in the state of Florida, but it is not the best place from which to serve the rest
of the United States.
Spanish exporters also do not benefit from the presence of a large
community of Spaniards, as opposed to Hispanics, in the United States. Their
number is very small, unlike the Irish and Italian communities. For example
there are only an estimated 20,000 Spaniards living in New York and the
neighbouring states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania. 4
One of the main factors behind the success of Italian exports to the United
States is the ties between Italian exporters and Italian-American professionals.
There is thus no critical mass that helps Spanish products to be introduced into
a market and become known by word of mouth. This is particularly useful for
gourmet and speciality foods, a market estimated to be worth $27 billion in
2005. Irish bars, for example, act as channels for Irish beverages and food and
the same goes for Italian restaurants. Spain’s share of this market is miniscule
but growing. Whole Foods, a gourmet retailer in Manhattan, had very few
Spanish products a few years ago and now carries a large selection of Spanish
cheeses. Americans are also increasingly able to identify paella, gazpacho,
olive oil, capers, saffron and clementines as products with Spanish roots.
Americans also choose Spanish products when processes are similar to US
practices. For example, mahon, a cheese from the Balearic Islands, has grown
in popularity because it is made from cow’s milk and is similar to cheeses
adapted to the American palate.
The relatively small volume of exports to the United States is also the
result of the relatively low level of Spanish direct investment in the United
States (see Chapter 3). A very significant proportion of trade with the United
States is intra-company: 40% of US imports are goods shipped by a parent
company to its subsidiary in the United States, and around 30% of US exports
are goods shipped by companies to their subsidiaries abroad.
Trade with Germany is a good case in point: 60% of its exports to
the United States are intra-company (9% by US subsidiaries to their parent
companies and 50% by German companies to their subsidiaries in the United
States). Spain’s figure is much lower at 27%, and it is almost equally divided
between exports by US subsidiaries to their parent companies and those by
Spanish companies to their subsidiaries in the United States. US investment
in Spain is relatively high, particularly in the auto, chemical and
pharmaceutical sectors, but the main purpose of these companies, generally
4. According to the 2000 census, there were just over 100,000 Spaniards living in the United States (0.3%
of the population).