Metal exports to the US are falling “every month by double digits” due to tariffs
Exports to the US of metalworking and metallurgy, the largest exportingsector of the Portuguese economy, fell by more than 14% from the start of the year to May, from 320 million euros to 274 million.
The imposition of tariffs by the US administration is already having an impact on Portuguese exports to the United States. The metallurgy and metalworking sector, the most export-orientated sector of the national economy, has seen double-digit monthly falls in sales to the country. In the first five months of the year, the sector’s exports to the US fell by more than 14%.
“We’re seeing double-digit declines in exports to the US every month”, Rafael Campos Pereira, vice-president of the Association of Metallurgical, Metalworking and Related Industries of Portugal (AIMMAP), told ECO.
After years of growth to the US, with exports of one billion euros to the country, sales of metallurgy and metalworking to the US fell by 14.3% in the first five months of the year, from 320 to 274 million euros up to May, he explains.
Rafael Campos Pereira points out that the announcement of tariffs of 30% on all goods exported from the European Union to the US, starting on 1 August, “makes an already complicated situation worse”. On the companies’ side, he says, “what they’re doing is looking for alternatives”.
“There are some companies [that already have industrial units in the country] that are producing more domestically, like Metologalva or JS Moreira, and others are looking for countries that can be vehicles” to pay lower customs duties, explains the vice-president of AIMMAP.
Despite the slowdown in sales to the US, the sector has been “growing in other markets, such as Canada and Morocco”. Overall, the sector recorded 10.3 billion euros in exports up to May, which represents a slight slowdown of 0.6% compared to the same period last year.
“Holding back” the volume of exports were countries like Turkey, where sales rose from 100 to 216 million euros, or Canada, with growth from 25 to 50 million euros. Looking at the month of May alone, the industry exported 2.3 billion euros, 9% more than in the same period last year and the fifth best month ever.
In view of the figures for the first five months of the year, the association’s vice-president is confident that the sector will be able to at least maintain last year’s exports of 24 billion euros.
