New U.S. tariffs deal heavy blow to Portugal's exports

LISBON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's exports to the United States plunged by 39.4 percent year-on-year in June, amid anticipation of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to final data released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

INE also reported that the country's trade deficit reached 28.35 billion euros (32.89 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, an increase of 540 million euros compared with the previous year.

In June 2024, exports to the United States totaled 557 million euros, but the figure fell to 338 million euros one year later, representing a decrease of 219 million euros.

On a quarterly basis, in the quarter ending in June, exports to the United States declined by 13.9 percent, from 1.42 billion euros to 1.22 billion euros.

Trump first announced a set of tariffs on several countries in April, but the implementation date was postponed several times to allow for negotiations and agreements, with the final date set for Thursday, Aug. 7.

The United States then began enforcing its new tariff plan, which includes a global minimum of 10 percent and duties starting at 15 percent for countries with a trade surplus with the United States.

For the European Union, a trade agreement with the United States was reached at the end of July. However, on Tuesday, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of 35 percent if the bloc failed to invest 600 billion U.S. dollars it had agreed to inject into the U.S. economy. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar)