“We are a country with automobile production capabilities, we have more than 300 thousand vehicles produced in Portugal and this production is for export, but, above all, for the European Union, so there is no significant exposure of our national production to the United States here”, pointed out the secretary-general of ACAP, Helder Pedro, in statements to the Lusa news agency.

US President Donald Trump announced yesterday the application of a 25% tariff on all imported cars, estimating that the measure would generate tax revenues of 100 billion dollars (93 billion euros).

“This is bad for the global economy, because, ultimately, if companies are going to suffer from this tariff decision, it ends up having a domino effect and the entire economy is affected, all its industries and the automobile industry is no exception to this impact”, highlighted Helder Pedro.

For ACAP, this measure is "a contradiction", because European manufacturers have had factories in the USA for several decades and, additionally, from 3 May, tariffs will also be applied to the components that American manufacturers will have to import, otherwise production will stop.

“[The components] become more expensive, they will increase the [price of] the product, therefore American consumers pay more and the product that is to be exported also becomes more expensive”, explained Helder Pedro.