“The United States of America (USA) is a good market, a market that has been working on and consolidated over the years and, naturally, this new tariff will have an immediate impact on business”, Luís Machado, also president of the Santa Marta de Penaguião City Council, told Lusa.

But, for the mayor leader of CIM Douro, which unites 19 municipalities, this is also an opportunity for Douro to “seek new markets”.

US President Donald Trump has announced the imposition of tariffs on imports, including 25% on all foreign cars. According to the announced table, EU countries will now pay 20% in tariffs.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already stated that the new customs duties announced by the US President constitute a "severe blow" to the global economy.

The North American market is in the “top five”, that is, in the five main export markets for wines produced in the Douro Demarcated Region, in terms of quantity and value.

In 2024, around 36 million euros of Port wine were exported to the USA, which represents an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year.

In terms of Douro Controlled Designation of Origin (DOC) wines, the North American market represented a turnover of around 5.6 million euros.

The region is already experiencing a crisis in terms of wine sales and Luís Machado said that the taxes announced by Trump will translate into greater “constraint on the part of North American imports”, which will have an “immediate impact on the Douro economy”.

Chain reaction

“Whether in commerce or production, it will be a chain reaction and we will all be harmed,” he said.

These will be, he considered, “difficult times for the region”. However, he said that this is also not the “first time that the Douro has gone through difficult situations and is able to overcome them”.

But for the socialist mayor, this could also be an opportunity for Douro to seek new markets.

“I think the conditions are in place for us all to sit down at the table, define new strategies, seek out and explore new markets, new businesses, always bearing in mind that we have to look for administrations that are trustworthy and that do not have these types of unilateral attitudes that have a strong, direct impact. And since our economy is relatively weak, the impact is greater,” he said.

Markets that, he pointed out, can range from Eastern Europe to Asia or Latin America.

“We have to understand which markets are the most reliable, including emerging markets, and which are available to consume our product,” he said, highlighting that “international logic is changing” and that “the world is not as it was before Donald Trump took office.”

The European Committee of Wine Companies (CEEV) also classified as a "severe blow" the 20% tariff on exports from the European Union to the United States announced by President Donald Trump, predicting layoffs and postponement of investments.

The wine sector employers' association said that this "hard blow" is the result of European exports to the US representing 28% of the total value of EU wine exports in 2024, a year in which the US continued to be the largest market for European wines, with a value of 4.88 billion euros.