Duties, the Trump line worries the Made in Italy: “4.5 billion exports at risk”

A new update on the telenovela of duties that continues to threaten Italian exports. A story that goes on, between one tweet and the next, with choices that can generate the so-called “avalanche effect”. After the decision of the President of the United States Donald Trump to impose, from September 1, new duties of 10% on imports of goods from China for a value of 300 billion dollars, Coldiretti has launched yet another alarm: “There are 4.5 billion Made in Italy exports, mainly wine and food, on the blacklist of products on which to apply an increase in import tariffs up to 100% of the current value drawn up by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Ustr) as part of the clash on aid to the aviation sector involving the American Boing and the European Airbus”. In recent days there has been tension on the US-France axis, after Trump had threatened, via Twitter, to hit French wine as “revenge” for the tax announced by Macron and then approved by Parliament on July 11, on large U.S. digital companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. “I’ve always said that American wine is better than French wine,” Tycoon wrote, injuring the pride of the transalpine people. On trade relations with the European Union, the White House's agenda includes an eagerly awaited speech by the President, which should concern, among other things, the agreement reached for the export to Europe in seven years of 35,000 tons of American hormone-free beef granted erga omnes in the context of the WTO dispute on the EU's refusal of meat to the US hormones. “This is the first challenge that the new European Commission, led by the German Ursula von der Leyen, on a visit to Italy for the meeting with Premier Giuseppe Conte, who will have to manage the complex relations with the historically, will have to face”, said President Coldiretti Ettore Prandini in stressing the need to “avoid a clash of new and worrying scenarios that risks causing a dangerous avalanche effect on the economy and on relations between the two sides of the Atlantic”. In the official blacklist published on the US Federal Register, Coldiretti recalls that France, Italy, and Germany are the most affected. The highest bill for the Belpaese is paid by the Made in Italy food industry with its wines, cheeses, meats, pasta, extra virgin olive oil, citrus fruits, olives, grapes, jams, fruit juices, canned peaches and pears, water, spirits, and coffee. But other sectors, such as fashion, building materials, metals, motorcycles, and cosmetics are also targeted.

“At stake - continues Coldiretti, citing the data of his study - are leading sectors of the national agri-food industry in the U.S. starting with wine with an export value of 1.5 billion euros in 2018 is the most affected product Made in Italy, olive oil whose exports in 2018 were equal to 436 million, pasta with 305 million, cheese with 273 million. The protectionist move responds to the demands of the lobby of fake Made in Italy food that in the U.S. bill 23 billion euros according to an estimate by Coldiretti. The most imitated are the Italian cold cuts and cheeses on the list. The production of imitations of dairy products in the USA, according to the Coldiretti analysis on Usda data, has grown exponentially in the last 30 years and is made for almost 2/3 in Wisconsin and California while the State of New York ranks third ”. The association, which is led by Prandini, points out that at the top of the list there is the mozzarella with 1.89 billion kg per year, followed by Parmesan with 204 million kg, provolone with 180 million kg, ricotta with 108 million kg and Romano with 26 million kg made without sheep’s milk. “The result shows that on the American market only 1% of the Italian cheeses consumed are linked to the Italian production reality, while the rest are made on American soil”.
But in the USA some people have taken action to counter duties: this is the case of the North American Olive Oil Association (Naooa) which has initiated a petition to defend the extra virgin olive oil.