The United States being the largest outside the EU for Italian exports, the customs duties imposed by President Trump could have a significant impact on sectors such as wine, spirits and furniture.
The United States is the largest outside the EU for Italian exports. According to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, these exports increased by more than 15 billion euros in the first two years which followed his entry into office.
Euronews spoke with Marco Simoni, director of the Industrial Policy Hub at Luiss University in Rome, and former economic advisor of two Italian Prime Ministers, according to him, the impact on Made in Italy products would be significant. “Each year, we export for around 70 billion euros in goods to the United States. This represents a lot of money and a wide range of products. Customs duties would reduce the ability of Italian companies to do business in states -Unis.
With the furniture and food industry, wine exports would be one of the main sectors affected by customs duties imposed by Donald Trump because the United States remains the largest importer of Italian wines.
Federviniwhich represents more than 2,000 companies, mainly exporters of wine and spirits, called for a de -escalation of tensions in order to avoid a real trade war.
For Micaela Pallini, president of the family business Pallini, the world’s leading producer of Italian lemoncello, and president of Federvini, These customs duties are a real risk. “”The United States is the main country where we export our products, especially wines and spirits “said Ms. Pallini, “These are around 30 % of the 2 billion euros in exported products, so we could lose half.”
Despite his close ties with Trump, it would be difficult for Giorgia Meloni to be offered passers. “It is a good thing that Italy has a privileged relationship with the United States, but that will have no effect on potential customs duties, because they would be imposed on EU goods and not on individual countries “, explains Marco Simoni.
“Italy is indeed a member state of the EU, which means that negotiations take place between the United States and the European Union, and not with individual member states”he added. According to the former economic advisor, there could be another reason for which Donald Trump could threaten to impose customs duties “He might want the EU to increase its military expenses to strengthen its defense capacity along its borders, as in the case of Ukraine. And it might want to obtain favorable conditions from the EU, both legal And tax, for high -tech companies that supported it “.
