Giorgos Zeikos, apple farmer and president of the Agia apple producers’ cooperative checks the fruits at an apple orchard in the village of Agia, in Thessaly, Greece, June 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Alexandros Avramidis

Europe’s illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs

At least 14 per cent of pesticides used on EU fields today are illegal

As the cost of spraying crops with pesticides becomes increasingly expensive, farmers in Greece's agricultural heartland have turned to a cheaper alternative: liquids in unlabeled plastic bottles smuggled over land and sea.








Photo: Anna Ross/dpa via Reuters Connect

EU pauses countermeasures after Trump’s tariff reprieve; U.S. weighing deals

Trump ratchets tariffs on China even higher; China says it will “follow through to the end”

The European Union will pause its first countermeasures against U.S. tariffs after President Donald Trump temporarily lowered the hefty dutiesless than a day after imposing them on dozens of countries, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.