The European Commission is preparing to present European Union (EU) member-states with a unified retaliation proposal in response to the new US tariffs on Monday, with an imminent vote due later into the week.
Reuters estimates that EU countries will seek to present a united front against Trump’s tariffs, which affect seventy percent of the bloc’s exports to the United States.
EU member states’ response to US tariffs
The list of U.S. products that the EU plans to hit with extra duties includes a diverse range of goods, from meat, cereals, wine, wood, and clothing to chewing gum, dental floss, vacuum cleaners, and toilet paper.
Member states expressed mixed reactions to the sweeping tariffs, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling for a freeze on European investments in the U.S. until things are clarified. Meanwhile, Ireland and Italy—two of the EU’s most significant exporters to the U.S.—suggested any response should be measured.
The EU’s countermeasures proposal should proceed after the vote unless a majority of 15 EU members oppose it. The measures would then be implemented in two stages: a smaller part on April 15, followed by the remainder a month later.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also hold separate discussions with stakeholders from the steel, automotive, and pharmaceutical sectors, which are the most affected by the new U.S. tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs’ impact on Greek economy and Greece’s stance
A single rate of twenty percent was imposed on European Union products by U.S. President Trump, applying to Greek products as well.
However, Greek exports to the US are low, at just 4.8 percent of the country’s total exports, and concern mainly agricultural products, fuels, steel, and aluminum, which means that the direct impact on the Greek economy will be small, AMNA observes.
However, the indirect impact could be more serious due to the negative effect of U.S. tariffs on the economies of key export markets for Greek products, such as Germany, Italy, and other European countries.
On Saturday, the Greek Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, said that Greece will try to negotiate exemptions from the tariff regime for unique products that are not competitive with U.S. equivalents.
He also called on the EU to redesign its policies and boost the accessibility of European produce for consumers in the internal market.
In his weekly message on government work and developments, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated on Sunday that the Greek economy “remains unaffected to the best possible extent from this new serious turmoil in the global economy.”
The Greek premier also stated that Greece remains firmly committed to the principles of free trade and will actively participate in shaping the unified European response to the new reality.
Thousands protest on both sides of the Atlantic
With JP Morgan predicting a 0.3 percent recession for the U.S. economy this year from 1.3 percent growth before Trump’s announcements and a surge in unemployment to 5.3 percent, the biggest victim of President Trump’s new tariffs policy is forecast to be the American economy itself, which is at risk of recession from a global trade war.
In the first significant opposition protest since Trump took office in January, thousands of Americans gathered in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S. on Saturday, participating in 1,200 demonstrations in all fifty states against the Trump administration’s government cuts, immigration crackdown, and import tariffs.
On the other side of the Atlantic, protesters in European cities from London to Berlin joined their voices with the American people against the Trump administration.
“We will carry this energy forward. We must continue to show up and protest – for our rights, for our communities in the US, for our world, and for a better future,” Democrats Abroad UK posted on X alongside photos from the London demonstration.
