The negative impacts of the United States' tariff policies and escalating transatlantic trade tensions on European companies, along with the resulting economic shock, are expected to intensify significantly in 2026, a survey by BusinessEurope showed on Monday.
The survey found that due to proactive measures widely adopted by companies, including preemptive supply chain adjustments, securing key raw materials, and diversifying export markets, the 2025 trade frictions' drag on the overall eurozone economic growth is relatively limited, narrowing the growth rate by only about 0.03 percentage points.
But looking into 2026, as the effectiveness of temporary countermeasures diminishes, contracts are to be renegotiated, and delayed investment effects to show off, the substantive impacts of trade tensions will release in concentration, expected to drag down eurozone economic growth by 0.5 to 0.6 percentage points, said the report.
The institution warns that if the U.S. and European Union fail to establish a mechanism to ease key trade disputes by the end of this year, next year could see a chain reaction of further contraction in business investment, declining capacity utilization, and pressure on the job market.
Europe to face greater U.S. tariff impacts in 2026: survey
Europe to face greater U.S. tariff impacts in 2026: survey
Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced late Saturday price hikes for commercial and residential electricity consumption effective this April, citing the global energy crisis triggered by the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
In a statement, the ministry said that the current "acute and unprecedented global crisis" across all energy resources, caused by the ongoing war in the Gulf region, has necessitated price increases for certain commercial and residential consumption tiers starting this month.
According to the statement, commercial consumption prices across various brackets will rise by an average of approximately 20 percent.
For residential consumption, prices for tiers consuming 2,000 kWh per month and above have been raised by an average of 16 percent, while rates for all tiers below the 2,000 kWh threshold will remain unchanged.
The ministry added that around 40 percent of subscribers fall within the lowest residential consumption categories, and most of them are exempt from the price increases.
Austerity measures announced by the government in late March included activating remote work systems, slowing the implementation of fuel-intensive mega-projects, and cutting fuel allocations for all government vehicles by 30 percent.
Additional measures included cutting business hours for shops, restaurants, cafes and malls as well as reducing street lighting and billboard illumination by one-third.
Egypt raises electricity prices amid global energy crisis
