The News
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Tuesday she will head to Washington next week to discuss tariffs with US President Donald Trump, seeking concessions from Trump’s 20% duties on EU goods.
The Italian leader is set to propose eliminating tariffs between the EU and US altogether, Bloomberg reported, and has coordinated her visit with EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.
Meloni has sought to present herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels, balancing her ideological sympathies for Trump’s policies with Italy’s shared European priorities. Meloni has called Trump’s tariff policies “wrong,” but also said the EU should avoid alarmist rhetoric and negotiate a path forwards with the US. EU members are expected to vote Wednesday on a list of products they plan to hit with retaliatory tariffs.