US tariffs: Tajani calls for calm as “exports account for 40 per cent of our GDP”

Brussels – “This is about protecting our businesses,” both Italian and European. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urges everyone to remain calm. The “tariff chaos” following the US Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the import restrictions imposed by the US president and the announcements by Donald Trump regarding new restrictions must be handled with a cool head, he explains on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. “We must work seriously, with determination, prudence, and intelligence to protect businesses,” he says, summarising the Meloni government’s position. 

“A trade war benefits no one,” says the head of the Foreign Ministry. Italy, therefore, supports the work of the European Commission, which is prepared for the worst, of course, but considers a negotiated and consensual solution preferable to a break, and is working towards this goal. On the Italian side, Tajani emphasises, “there is confidence in the work done by Commissioner [for Trade, Maros] Sefcovic, who achieved an excellent result with the agreement on the 15 per cent regime reached at the end of July and finalised with the EU-US Joint Declaration in August. 

The reason why Italy favours caution is what is at stake for the national economy and ‘Made in Italy’: “Exports account for almost 40 per cent of our gross domestic product,” with the United States being “the most important market for our exports,” Tajani points out. Italy’s reservations and fears, and its call for caution, are therefore understandable. The government’s line is to let the EU executive and the Trade Commissioner do their job. “We feel well represented by Sefcovic,” the head of Italian diplomacy confirms and reiterates.

Meanwhile, in Rome, the government’s control room is springing into action. Tajani announces the convening of the customs duty task force to “provide all the information” and updates to the business world. At this moment, “we want to reassure all Italian companies that export,” especially to the United States. The message the government wants to send to the national manufacturing sector, Tajani anticipates, is that “Italy is working together with Europe to ensure that the commitments” made in the agreement reached last summer are upheld.  Italy, like the EU Commission, is therefore asking the United States to honor its agreement on the 15 per cent tariff regime, while cautioning against “unnecessary leaps forward.”