Italian Georgia Meloni to meet Trump amid trade confrontation with Europe

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni intends to meet with US President Donald Trump on Thursday amid a tense trade confrontation with the European Union over the tariffs.

Meloni’s visit to Washington makes her the first European leader to meet with the president as he announced tariffs for European imports earlier this month.

Trump is a supporter of Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Italian party brothers, who has become known with the tides of other similar populist parties in Europe. He described her as a “fantastic woman” that “really hosted Europe” when they met at Mar-a-lago in January.

But this connection-and diplomatic skills meloni will be conducted on Thursday, as leaders meet against the greater problems of full trade war between the US and the block.

In early April, Trump announced a 20% “mutual” tariff for all imported EU goods as part of his broad policy of global trade tariffs. Since then, he has reduced his duty to 10% in 90 days, which allowed negotiations to try to find a trading deal.

The EU, in turn, ceased to pay 25% of the $ 21 billion tariffs (23.8 billion) US exports. President of the European Commission Ursul von der Leyen commented on last week What the EU wants to “give a chance to talk”, but the negotiations were not satisfactory, the EU’s countermeasures will begin.

The EU will closely watch the meeting Meloni with Trump, hoping it can help negotiations to find a compromise to decide what Trump perceives both unfair and unbalanced trade relations with the US permanent surplus with the US from the US

Meloni was described as something “Trump’s whisper” Which could place the position of the US leader when it comes to trade with the EU. She got a nickname after Trump obviously enjoyed a five-hour meeting with her at her Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida in January. On April 18, it is also linked to the Vice President of JD Vance in Rome.

The meeting on Thursday “is a key opportunity to demonstrate both its proximity to President Donald Trump and its potential role as a reliable interlocutor capable of revitalizing a transatlantic dialogue,” Wolfango Piccoli said last week.

“However, despite the fact that this visit took place before the” release “period (the name that American officials gave on the day were announced by global tariffs on April 2), the concern that it may arise, especially given the recent treatment of Trump various foreign leaders,” added the analyst.

“One of the main problems of this visit will demonstrate that Meloni acts as a mediator on behalf of the entire EU, not just in defense of Italian interests.”

Export-oriented Italy, the third largest Euro-zone economy, can be of great benefit from the EU-SSH trading transaction, as it will not want to lose the profitable market of its highest exports to the state. These include machines and medical products, as well as machines, clothing, food and drinks. It is problematic for the Trump administration, Rome recorded a trade surplus of $ 43.9 billion from the US in 2024, in 2024, American data shows.

When Trump tariffs were announced at the amount of 20% on EU imports, Meloni was part of the leaders who complained about the decision, saying it was “wrong”, but calling for her European colleagues to try to avoid a trade war.

“The tariffs are mistaken, not in the interest of either side,” Meloni said, noting that Italy will do everything possible to work on the US agreement in order to overcome the trade war, which will inevitably weaken the West for the benefit of other global players. “

Meloni also warned that tariffs could suffer from Italian food and beverage exports, noting that “Italian agro -industrial products are in demand around the world starting from Europe.”

“It should be remembered that the US is the second largest destination market, and exports increased by 17% in 2024. The US market is the main one for us.”

Pikal Tennea stated that the cautious reaction of Meloni to the US tariffs is also due to her belief that the biggest risks for the Italian economy do not lie in the tariffs, especially since they are used in a reduced form, “but in the potential consequences of a full trading war, which includes the tariffs for maintenance.

“Such scenarios can significantly affect the state finances of Italy. Modern estimates believe that tariffs can reduce Italian exports by 0.3% to 0.5% of GDP, although the actual effect is probably less due to the limited passage of the effect; many Italian export is premium or niche.