Entering in detail, these are rates decided in response to those ordered by the Trump administration on steel and aluminum imported from the United States. The postponement is aimed at better evaluating the list of goods on which to impose taxes, but not only: the priority of European officials is to earn more time to try to find an agreement with the stars and stripes colleagues to reduce, suspend or even delete mutual duties.
A goal shared by Giorgia Meloniwho emphasized the “consequences” that could be worrying: “In my opinion you have to be a little cautious in an automatic response, because I am worried by the consequences and I explained it. The duties produce an inflationary push, an inflationary thrust can lead to the increase in the rates of the European Central Bank, if rates increase, growth compresses”.
The race against time has begun and Italy observes with the right dose of fear. The numbers are clear: Rome risks big. As evolved by the messenger, if the Trump administration applied duties on steel and aluminum, losses for Italy could exceed Two billion euros. And that’s not all. The risk increases if, as it seems, Italian wines ended up in the sights with duties that could reach 200 percent.
Yesterday the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met in Brussels the aforementioned commissioner SEFCovic to discuss the response to the aggressive American commercial policy. The Italian government is trying to avoid American retaliation, especially against whiskey, which could trigger a domino effect on the exports of Italian wines. The wine industry is particularly vulnerable: the 200 percent duties would be devastating. Italian diplomacy, with the EU support, tried to deal directly with Washington, but expectations are not rosy. The disputes on the digital tax of Brussels, which affects the American big techs, are another point of clash.
Despite the difficulties, the Italian government hopes to find an agreement that can reduce damage. In Rome, however, it is feared that Europe may not be able to avoid the worst scenario, with estimates indicating damage between 54 and 88 billion euros for the EU, of which about 7 billion only for Italy. The match with Trump, on the other hand, is always uncertain: as pointed out by Palazzo Chigi, “the ball is in your field”.
Everything is rapidly evolving. As evidenced by what happened with other countries, Trump seems to want to use duties as a threat to the negotiation phase. A muscle approach could lead to the wall against wall: dialogue represents the perfect way to reach the white smoke and avoid unnecessary and crazy economic wars between friendly countries. Especially if this conflict with taxes risks penalizing Italy in such a serious way.
TheVermilion.com is also on WhatsApp. Simply click here to register for the channel and always be updated (free).