Spanish companies in logistics, transport and packaging are particularly critical of the European response to the tariff crisis: only 2% of logistics firms and 1% of packaging firms consider it adequate and sufficient. This is a scenario that, one year after the escalation began, has ceased to be a hypothesis and become a daily reality. This is confirmed by the study “From disruption to adaptation: diagnosis of the Spanish logistics and packaging sector in the face of the new global trading order,” produced by Logistics & Automation and Empack.
The report analyzes the real and perceived impact that the geopolitical and trade environment was having on logistics, transport and packaging activity in Spain during the period under review, in June 2026. The study references a context marked by tariff escalation among the United States, China and the European Union, the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, and the accelerated reconfiguration of global supply chains. The diagnosis is clear: gradual adaptation is prevailing over structural disruption, although pressure on contracts, costs and regulation is already tangible for a large part of the sector.
Logistics and Transportation: Tariff Pressure Is Already Hitting Daily Operations
Tariffs have ceased to be a distant threat and have become a daily management factor. Thirty-one percent of companies in the logistics and transport sector have had to renegotiate on a one-off basis contracts with international customers or suppliers in response to tariff and geopolitical changes, and an additional 17% acknowledge a broad and meaningful impact on their commercial terms; only 39% say they have not needed to.
The new European tariffs on Chinese goods and the American tariffs on European products are the factors most conditioning operations, although 43% of companies say they have not yet experienced any direct impact. In supplier relationships, the majority response among those who have acted has been to make one-off adjustments (27%), while 19% are still evaluating changes without making a decision and 41% have not needed to modify their strategy.
The customs front, for now, remains relatively resilient: 43% of companies have not noticed significant changes in customs management, although 23% report a moderate impact and 16% already incur compliance cost overruns. Half of the companies (50%) believe that the relocation of their clients’ production to Europe does not apply to their business model. Conversely, among those who do perceive this demand, 22% are examining how to adapt their logistics network, prioritizing stronger technological integration, traceability and storage and distribution capacity.
“The customs data is the best indicator of the moment: there’s not yet a collapse, but there’s already 16% bearing compliance cost overruns,” says Óscar Barranco, CEO of Easyfairs Iberia. “And those who are feeling their clients relocating aren’t just expanding warehouses and fleets; they’re investing in technology and traceability. That investment is what will decide who can withstand the next cycle.”
Packaging: Rising Raw Material Costs and the Shadow of the PPWR
The packaging sector is under comparable pressure, though somewhat less severe in its most acute effects. Thirty-two percent of companies have renegotiated on a one-off basis contracts with international customers or suppliers, and 12% report a broad impact on their commercial terms. However, 40% say it has not been necessary. Plastics and resins are, by far, the raw materials that have faced the most price increases or supply issues in the last year, cited by 42% of companies, ahead of cardboard and paper (28%) and aluminum and metals (28%).
In the face of these rising costs, the sector’s reaction remains cautious: 46% continue working with their usual suppliers, 26% are evaluating alternatives within the European Union or nearby countries without committing to any changes, and only 8% have already relocated part of their supplier base.
Added to this cost pressure is a fundamental regulatory challenge: the new European Packaging Regulation (PPWR), applicable since August 2026, remains an unknown for a large part of the sector. So much so that 28% of companies didn’t know it or consider it does not affect them, and a further 24% assess its impact as low or manageable, while 22% already assume cost overruns in adapting their processes. Regarding innovation, nearly half of the sector (48%) believes it is still too early to assess whether the double tariff and regulatory pressures are accelerating the development of new materials, and only 11% say they are actively investing in new packaging solutions.
European Institutions on Hold and a Future of Caution Rather Than Breakage
One of the study’s strongest messages is the critical assessment by both sectors of the institutional response. Forty-eight percent of logistics and transport companies and 44% of packaging firms consider that the response of European institutions to the trade and tariff tensions is insufficient to protect the sector’s interests, compared with only 2% in logistics and 1% in packaging who rate it as adequate and sufficient.
Despite this critique, neither sector anticipates a sharp rupture of their business model. Caution dominates the responses: 37% in logistics and transport and 41% in packaging believe it is still too early to know whether the current scenario will force permanent changes. Among those who do foresee transformations, the majority describe them as gradual and manageable (31% and 30%, respectively) and only 9% and 8% see them as an irreversible structural change.
This reading also coexists with an ambivalent interpretation of the moment: more than half of logistics and transport companies (53%) and packaging (59%) perceive the context as a balance of threat and opportunity in equal measure, well above those who see it solely as a threat (22% in both sectors) or solely as an opportunity (21% and 18%, respectively).
In summary, Óscar Barranco, CEO of Easyfairs Iberia, concludes: “Our study confirms that uncertainty has become the new normal for the Spanish supply chain. Companies no longer wait for the situation to stabilize to act; they are redefining suppliers, renegotiating contracts and adapting processes while the European regulatory framework itself, with the arrival of the PPWR, adds an extra layer of complexity. Whoever best combines commercial agility and regulatory foresight will set the standard in the coming years.”
