The United States has taken an unusual and far-reaching step in its relations with Spain, by officially placing the port policy of the government of Pedro Sánchez under control. The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the federal regulator of international shipping in Washington, … concludes in an official update of its investigation that Spain has implemented and maintains a policy of refusing access to your ports which directly affected U.S. shipping, creating what it describes as “adverse general or special conditions” for U.S. foreign trade. The language used is not rhetorical or political, but rather the legal threshold preceding sanctions.
The origin of the case lies in a series of decisions adopted by the Spanish authorities starting in 2024, when several ships were refused entry into Spanish ports to transport goods to or from Israel. The Commission confirms that in November of the same year at least three ships flying the American flag were directly excluded from the port of Algeciras and emphasizes that “the policy behind these refusals remains in force”. This point is essential because, for Washington, it is not about specific incidents, but rather a line of action supported and protected by the government.
The FMC does not evaluate Spain’s political position on the Middle East conflict, nor does it discuss the legitimacy of the Spanish government’s diplomatic decisions. The focus is strictly commercial and regulatory. The problem, according to the document, is that “laws, regulations or practices adopted, followed or applied by Spain” would interfere with the normal functioning of the international maritime trade in which American companies and ships participate. The effect, he warns, is the creation of an environment of insecurity and discrimination incompatible with the rules that govern global shipping. During the period of the allegations, the Spanish government declared, through its embassy in Washington, that this investigation violated its right to establish diplomatic relations.
The text insists on the fact that the subject of the file “it is not Israel as such”, but the impact of these restrictions on “the conditions of maritime transportation in the foreign commerce of the United States”. This is a deliberate distinction. The Commission avoids any ideological reading and places the case in the area of competition, port neutrality and the reliability of the logistics system between two transatlantic allies. Concretely, what the FMC is calling into question is a foreign government using access to its ports as a political instrument in a way that selectively harms certain operators and flags.
An investigation into possible legal consequences
On the basis of these preliminary findings, the Commission officially opens a new phase of the procedure, as required by its Regulation. To do this, it is making a public appeal to shipping companies, shippers, port operators and other industry stakeholders to provide additional information. He wants to know how “Spain’s current policy of refusing or refusing port access to certain ships” is applied in practice, what mechanisms are used to enforce it, whether there are exceptions or alternative routes and what the real impact has been on routes, calls, detours, costs and logistics planning.
This process is channeled through the federal bulletin and opens a 60 day deadline, starting December 22, 2025, to submit comments and allegations. This is not a minor procedure. In the American system, these types of public consultations are part of the evidentiary record and serve to justify, where appropriate, the adoption of coercive measures. The Commission specifies that this is not a simple compilation of opinions, but rather the construction of a factual file allowing an assessment of “what corrective measures could be appropriate”.
This is where the most delicate heart of the document comes into play. The FMC recalls that, whenever there is evidence of practices by a foreign government that create unfavorable conditions for American maritime commerce, the law requires it to consider compensation. This is not a discretionary power, but a legal mandate. And the range of options it offers is wide and potentially very costly for Spain.
serious consequences
Possible measures include “freight limitations”, which could result in restrictions on certain traffic linked to Spain; the “denial of entry to ships flying the Spanish flag” in American ports; and the imposition of direct economic sanctions. On this last point, the text is explicit: fines are envisaged “within the current limit adjusted for inflation”, $2,304,629 per voyage”, applicable to ships flying the Spanish flag.
The impact of a sanction of this scale goes well beyond the numbers. Fines of this level, applied per trip, immediately modify the economic viability of the routes, They make insurance more expensive, require a rethinking of scales and can exclude operators from the American market. The ability to deny Spanish ships access to US ports adds an even more disruptive element, with direct consequences for shipping companies, ports, recipients and supply chains.
The Commission is careful to emphasize that “no final decision has been made” and that it will evaluate “all appropriate evidence and considerations” before making a decision. But the general tone of the document makes it clear that the threshold for concern has already been crossed. The United States does not issue an informal warning, but rather activates a regulatory mechanism designed precisely for this type of conflict.
The United States does not issue an informal warning, but rather activates a regulatory mechanism designed precisely for this type of conflict.
The political context reinforces the seriousness of the approach. The FMC investigation comes alongside other frictions between Washington and Madrid, from the debate over NATO defense spending to the use of Chinese technology in sensitive infrastructure or the blockade of military equipment intended for Israel. However, this file has a different nature: it does not depend on decisions from the White House or diplomatic declarations, but on an independent agency with its own legal mandate.
From a strategic point of view, this affair places Spain in an uncomfortable position. Not as an adversary, but as a partner whose actions are now considered incompatible, at least temporarily, with the rules of the international maritime system as interpreted by Washington. The repeated use of the term “unfavorable conditions” a dozen times in the text is not a coincidence: it is the legal category that allows reprisals.
The final outcome will depend on the evolution of the case, the information provided by the companies concerned and whether Spain introduces changes allowing the Commission to conclude that the problem has been corrected but that the deadline has already been set. The United States has previously attested that there was effective discrimination against U.S. vessels and that this policy remained active due to a political decision.
In this sense, the document marks a before and an after. For the first time, a US federal agency is openly proposing trade sanctions against Spain because of its port policy.
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