In comments to Lusa, Luís Miguel Ribeiro stated that the AEP, which met today with the Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, “presented a range of concerns expressed in a survey” conducted with its associates. The survey highlighted the primary need for “an enhanced support line for internationalization and exports.”
Secondly, there is a demand for “support and strengthening of credit insurance and financing tools, alongside a financing line for exports,” and thirdly, “the issue of human resources, particularly requalification and hiring support.”
“In fourth place, which is overarching to all these issues, is a reduction in the tax burden to ensure that the challenge of competitiveness does not become even greater, as Portugal, having a higher tax burden than other countries, always faces this added difficulty,” he stressed.
According to the business association leader, the minister acknowledged that “the European Union’s strategy will be to negotiate first and foremost, not retaliate.”
Furthermore, the official indicated that “the commitment is to accelerate measures already outlined in the ‘Accelerate the Economy’ program and that a new package will be made available to companies,” expressing hope that this would happen “very swiftly.”
The president of the AEP mentioned measures such as guarantees from the Development Bank and the reinforcement and a bonus on the credit insurance limits, facilitating “exporting, seeking new markets, and diversifying markets,” along with an “intensification and streamlining of the use of Portugal 2030 lines to support internationalization.”
Luís Miguel Ribeiro noted an alignment between the concerns of businesses and the Government, indicating that the minister assured that “this would be a priority and treated as such, and that the key word in the Ministry of Economy’s actions would be ‘accelerate.’
The Ministry of Economy will hold meetings with business associations from various sectors between today and Wednesday to assess “the impact and mitigation measures” of the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, imposing a 20% rate on imported European products, in addition to the existing 25% on the automotive, steel, and aluminum sectors.
Trump’s new tariffs aim to bolster the US industry while penalizing other countries for what he described as years of unfair trade practices.
The new tariffs were imposed by the United States on all imports, with surcharges for countries considered particularly unfriendly to trade.
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