“The US/EU agreement signed by Trump and Von der Leyen represents a deplorable act of the European Union’s submission to the impositions and interests of the United States,” stated the party in a communiqué.
The matter concerns the trade agreement between the EU and the United States, reached on Sunday, which sets US tariffs on European products at 15%.
According to the communists, this agreement between the two blocs “subordinates the EU to the interests of the US in what is called the customs tariff issue,” by establishing a “minimum value of 15% (much higher concerning steel and aluminum) on European products, in contrast to 0% on US products.”
The PCP also considered that the agreement has “the complicity of the PSD/CDS government, which, following PS positions, expresses submission to US and EU impositions.”
“The abandonment of sovereignty instruments such as trade policy, left in the hands of the EU and those who control it, deprives the country of means to defend its interests and has led to the proven devaluation of national productive capacity, increased external dependence, and vulnerability in situations like this,” lamented the party.
The communiqué emphasizes that, with the US being the “fourth-largest destination” for Portuguese exports, “a strengthened urgency” emerges for a policy defending national productive sectors, involving the diversification of trade relations, including replacing imports with national production and enhancing the internal market.
The agreement also includes the EU’s commitment to purchase US energy valued at 750 billion dollars (approximately 642 billion euros) — aiming notably to replace Russian gas —, the investment of an additional 600 billion (514 billion euros), and an increase in military material acquisitions.
The US and EU countries exchange about 4.4 billion euros in goods and services daily.
