A cooperative of 1,200 stock breeders in southern Greece had one clear goal for this year: breaking into the U.S. market with their renowned feta cheese. This ambitious expansion plan, however, now hangs in the balance after President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on most imported goods, including dairy products from the European Union.
In 2019, Greece successfully negotiated an exemption for feta from U.S. tariffs, but that reprieve is now a distant memory. Trump’s new tariff regime also includes a 20% reciprocal levy on European goods, including feta, leaving Greek producers with mounting concerns over the future of their exports.
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“We’re uncertain how much of this tariff will be passed on to consumers. It’s a gamble,” said Konstantinos Latsis, the cooperative’s general manager, speaking from inside the dairy’s cold room where 6,000 barrels of feta are aging in brine. The cooperative produces around 5,000 tonnes of barrel-aged feta annually, which it supplies to the Greek market, but it’s eyeing the U.S. as a critical growth opportunity.
Greece, a country with over 6,000 years of feta-making tradition, produced 140,000 tonnes of the iconic cheese last year, valued at €800 million. Approximately 8% of that production was exported to the U.S.—a market where demand for Greek feta has surged, doubling over the past four years. But now, with the looming tariffs, Greek exporters are preparing for a sharp decline in U.S. sales.
“I’m afraid the tariffs will significantly reduce feta exports to the U.S.,” said Christos Apostolopoulos, head of Greece’s dairy industry association. “We’ll have to rethink our strategy and focus on diversifying into other markets.”
Despite the uncertainty, Latsis remains cautiously optimistic. “Even with the tariffs, the U.S. market is too large to ignore,” he said. “We’ll continue to work on our presence there, adapting as we go.”
For now, Greek feta producers face an uphill battle. The question remains: Can the country’s prized cheese find a way through the tariff maze, or will it be forced to shift focus to other markets? The coming months will be pivotal for the future of Greece’s feta exports to the U.S.
