“EU leaves humiliated with colossal defeat”: Tariffs break Pedro Nuno Santos’ silence

Pedro Nuno Santos, former secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS), broke his silence this Monday regarding the trade agreement between the EU and the US, which the former leader said was a humiliation for the bloc of 27 after a "colossal defeat."

The trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States, reached on Sunday, sets US customs tariffs on European products at 15%.

In a statement, the Portuguese Government, through the Ministry of Economy, said that "the understanding reached between the European Union and the United States of America represents an essential step towards the predictability and stability" that companies need.

"If Trump's statements are confirmed, the EU has suffered a colossal defeat in the negotiations on trade tariffs between the EU and the US. It leaves humiliated, with an agreement that harms European industry," Pedro Nuno Santos highlighted on Instagram.

The former political leader believes that "the announced agreement states that while European products entering the US will face 15% tariffs, American products entering the European market will face...0% tariffs."

And as if this weren't enough, Pedro Nuno Santos continues, "Trump also announced that the agreement provides for the purchase of hundreds of billions of dollars in military equipment by EU member states, 750 billion dollars in energy, and European investment in the US totaling 650 billion dollars."

"Hundreds of billions of dollars in military equipment" – wouldn't increased military spending serve to stimulate European industry and create jobs in the EU?

For the former Socialist leader, "this is a political and economic defeat for EU leaders, but the losers are European workers and industry. Defending Portugal and the Portuguese people requires a critical attitude toward the political fragility the EU is revealing, not subservient silence."