In the first 100 days of his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened, implemented, and then paused sweeping tariffs on imports into the United States. Greece was subject to the tariffs levied against the European Union. Exporters worried about the olives, feta cheese, and wine that are sold to U.S. supermarkets. But Greece was perhaps more concerned about the upset in global trade, as a country so involved in global shipping and as an economy so heavily dependent on international tourism.
The reciprocal tariffs first announced by Trump were suspended for 90 days, but there remains a unilateral ten-per-cent levy on almost all imports into the U.S..
Speaking at the 10th Delphi Economic Forum in early April, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed Trump’s decision to “push the pause button” on sweeping tariffs, describing the suspension as a “window of opportunity” for both sides to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. How will these negotiations go? What impact will the still-high 10% tariff have on Greece?
We spoke to Petros Konstantinidis, financial reporter at the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, to try to pull apart exactly how these tariffs—and the global market uncertainty—will impact the Greek economy.
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