Lisbon, July 30, 2025 (Lusa) - The Socialist Party (PS) wants to know whether the Portuguese Government was involved in the negotiation process for the trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, whether officials carried out any economic assessment and what measures are planned to mitigate the impact.
In a question that the Lusa news agency accessed, and that parliament sent to the minister for economy, Manuel Castro Almeida, PS MPs consider that “the recent announcement of a trade agreement between the European Union and the United States deserves scrutiny by parliament”.
“It is important to clearly understand the Portuguese government’s position, its participation in the negotiation process, the expected economic impacts and how it intends to safeguard national interests,” the PS parliamentary group said.
Considering that the existence of an agreement “enhances predictability”, the Socialists believe that “it is necessary to assess the effective costs of this agreement and the need for the state to create conditions that preserve the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy”.
Among the 12 questions that the PS wants Minister Castro Almeida to answer is whether the government considers “reasonable and proportionate an agreement in which the EU accepts tariffs of 15% on exported goods, without tariff concessions from the US”.
“What lessons does the government draw from the comparison with agreements concluded, for example, by the United Kingdom, which supposedly obtained more advantageous conditions?” it asked.
The PS also wants to know whether the government led by Luís Montenegro “played an active role in the negotiations or was merely informed of the final solution” and whether the government raised “prior objections or reservations”.
“Was the national government prepared for such a scenario? Is there any documentation showing Portuguese contributions during the process?” it asked.
The Socialists want the government to clarify whether they made any economic assessment of how different scenarios will impact the national gross domestic product and the sectors that are most exposed.
“What concrete measures will the government implement to enhance the resilience of strategic sectors of the Portuguese economy to the EU-US trade agreement?” it asks, explaining that it is important to know the details of the package the government presented a few months ago.
The PS also asks for explanations on issues in the agreement relating to defence and energy.
“Is the full text of the EU-US agreement available for public scrutiny? If not, when does the government expect to publish and analyse it in parliament?” it asks.
According to the PS, “whatever the point of analysis”, this agreement “requires further clarification”, starting with “the real net gain for Europe” and “increased protection for sensitive industrial sectors”, as well as the “potential strengthening of European strategic autonomy”.
“And on the need for reciprocity in the negotiations, particularly when we compare the current terms to other agreements or even to the United Kingdom, which, in a post-Brexit context, supposedly has a better agreement than the EU, with tariffs of 10%,”, he added.
The day after officials announced this agreement, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said that it “brings predictability and stability” to the economy and “promotes de-escalation”, while noting the emergence of new demands.
The trade agreement between the EU and the United States, reached on Sunday, sets US customs tariffs on European products at 15%.
The agreement also provides for a commitment by the EU to purchase US energy worth $750 billion (around €642 billion) - aimed in particular at replacing Russian gas - an additional investment of $600 billion (€514 billion), and an increase in military equipment purchases.
The US and EU countries trade around €4.4 billion in goods and services every day.
JF/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
