“Portugal wants deep strategic partnership with US”; common agenda (without tariffs)
Portugal’s economy minister Pedro Reis has used the inauguration of the first of six buildings of the Start Campus mega data centre in Sines – a project involving US investment fund Davidson Kempner and Britain’s Pioneer Point Partners – to stress that, even in this week of cataclysmic tariffs, American-backed projects are “very welcome” in Portugal.
The minister whose instant reaction to the announcement of Trump’s tariff plan was that Portugal would need to use “a lot of intelligence”, showed he means to start the way forwards with diplomacy:
“What a good week to remember that we want to build a deep strategic partnership with the United States, in a market that is essential for all of us”, he said, describing the United States as “a benchmark for technological giants, but for all other sectors.”.
“What a good week and what a good event to witness how fundamental a sign of commitment is between the United States, Portugal and Europe for a common agenda for growth and for commercial convergence”, built on “trust rather than estrangement, with investment rather than tariffs, with combating barriers as opposed to blockades, with liberalism rather than protectionism”.
“The world needs and wants a strong United States, as the driving force and bastion, as it has always been, of free trade, of strategic investment, of the promotion, through innovation, of competitiveness, of the balanced and fair opening of markets,” he added.
Moments earlier, the US embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Portugal, Douglas Koneff, extolled the importance of this €8.billion investment, and the “incredible partnership” between Portugal and the United States.
“The new administration has challenged us to make America safer, stronger and more prosperous and one of the reasons I’m very excited is that this (Start Campus) project guarantees that for both Portugal and the US,” he said.
When completed in 2030, the campus will have six buildings and a total capacity of 1.2 GW, with access to the grid assured.
Mentioning nothing of the form in which Start Campus became embroiled in the fall of eight years of Socialist government, Pedro Reis instead referred to the “tremendously important” work of his predecessors in attracting Start Campus to Sines, and ensuring that it had a future.
While these attempts at shoring up bridges went ahead today, Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos was venting his ire over social media, accusing the government of having done nothing towards a plan to help Portuguese businesses affected by the US tariffs.
“While other European governments, such as Spain’s, are already preparing support packages for the hardest hit sectors, our government is showing that it hasn’t anticipated the problem and is taking refuge in ministerial meetings for electoral purposes,” he complained on ‘X’ this afternoon. ND
Source material: LUSA
