More than two-fifths of Portugal’s exports escape new US tariffs
Of the 5,318 million euros exported to the US in 2024, 2,365 million euros are safe from the 10% tariffs, including medicines and oil products.
Last year, Portugal exported goods worth 5,318 million euros to the US. Of this total, 2.365 billion (around 44.5%) are free from the 10% tariffs applied by Donald Trump, according to Público newspaper, which cites data from the Portuguese Foreign Trade and Investment Agency (AICEP).
Among the goods that have escaped the tariffs (at least for now) are, for example, medicines, which totalled 1.167 billion euros for the US market in 2024, and Galp’s oil products, worth 1.030 billion euros.
Data from INE, the Portuguese Statistics Institute, shows that of the 4,255 Portuguese companies that exported to the US last year, 624 (15%) were 100% dependent on this market for their foreign sales, which totalled 968 million euros, equivalent to 18% of total exports. A further 645 companies depend between 50% and 99% on the US for their foreign sales, amounting to 1 billion euros.
According to the Bank of Portugal, the degree of exposure to the new US measures (which could lead to lower profit margins and/or lower sales volumes) “is close to 12% in the textile manufacturing sector, 11.5% in the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (which includes glass and porcelain) and 10% in the beverages industry”. This makes these the “sectors most directly exposed to the increase in tariffs”, says the central bank.
