Duties, Orsini: EU responds united, extraordinary plan for industry and labour

The 20% duty on all Made in Italy agri-food products will lead to a 1.6 billion price increase for American consumers, with a drop in sales that will damage Italian companies, as well as increase the phenomenon of Italian sounding. This is what Coldiretti estimates: to the drop in sales must then be added the damage in terms of depreciation of production, to be calculated chain by chain, linked to the excess supply without outlets in other markets.

"We estimate a potential impact of between 4 and 7 billion euros for the Italian economy, with knock-on effects on employment, investment and competitiveness," is the comment of the president of the Unione Coltivatori Italiani, Mario Serpillo: "In the wine sector alone, which is worth 2 billion in exports to the US and accounts for 25% of our total wine exports, the duties could translate into 6 million euros of losses per day for Italian wineries. Added to this is the damage to Parmesan cheese, which covers about 7% of the US hard cheese market and is sold at more than double the price of local Parmesans'.

"With the bloody American duties at 20%, the market will have to cut its revenues by 323 million euros a year, or else a large part of our production will exit the market. This is why UIV is convinced of the need to make a pact between our companies and our overseas trade allies, who profit more from imported wines than we do; we need to share the burden of the extra cost and avoid passing it on to consumers". This was said by the President of the Italian Wine Union (UIV), Lamberto Frescobaldi. According to UIV, as much as 76% of the 480 million Italian bottles shipped last year to the United States were in the 'red zone' with an exposure of over 20% of total shipments. Oenological areas with absolute peaks for Moscato d'Asti (60%), Pinot Grigio (48%), Chianti Classico (46%), Tuscan Dop reds at 35%, Piedmontese at 31%, as well as Brunello di Montalcino, to close with Prosecco at 27% and Lambrusco. In total there are 364 million bottles, worth over 1.3 billion euros, or 70% of Italian exports to the United States.

Removing wine, sparkling wine and spirits from the list of EU tariffs in retaliation to US duties, conducting 'immediate' diplomatic negotiations with the United States to avert punitive tariffs on Made in Europe products and ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the wine sector. These are some of the demands made by the new wine intergroup of the European Committee of the Regions, which met on 3 April for the first time in Brussels on the margins of the plenary session of the institution representing the territories.

Giovanni Busi, President of the Chianti Wine Consortium, comments: 'We note with regret the US President's decision on duties, but we cannot afford to stand still. Now is the time to strengthen our presence in new markets, starting with South America, where the agreement with Mercosur can open up great opportunities for our wine. At the same time, we must invest in Asia and start promoting ourselves in Africa and India to diversify our exports and reduce our dependence on the US,' he said.

Meanwhile duties are not stopping US operators departing for Verona. More than three thousand American buyers confirmed for the 57th edition of Vinitaly (Veronafiere, 6-9 April): a figure that repeats last year's record. Nevertheless, concern is felt in the region: "Veneto's agro-food exports are worth 1 billion euros a year. It is difficult to make forecasts, but with these duties applied by the USA, a 20% that will do a lot of harm, we risk a collapse,' said the president of Cia Veneto, Gianmichele Passarini, in a note. In addition to wine, the main products exported from Veneto to the US include oil, pasta and cheese. Over the last decade, Veneto's agri-food exports to the US have increased by more than 50%. It is Prosecco that will be most affected by the duties: the Veneto region exports 491 million worth of wine per year to the USA.

The president of Confcooperative Fedagripesca, Raffaele Drei, comments: 'We have criticised duties as an instrument of economic policy, but the US has decided to adopt them, albeit with lower percentages than threatened. Now it is time to leave the study of appropriate countermeasures to the duties to the political institutions and European and Italian diplomacy. At the same time, however, we would like to urge the absolute urgency of focusing on the difficulties of companies, for which measures to defend their competitiveness must be immediately thought out and prepared'.

The export share in the stars and stripes market of the cooperatives belonging to Confcooperative is significant: in the USA the turnover of cooperative wineries is more than Euro 570 million, 30% of all wine exports to the US market (which amounts to Euro 1.9 billion), while for another high added value sector with its PDO productions such as cheese, cooperatives market Euro 122 million in the USA, 25% of all cheese sales in the USA, which in 2024 reached Euro 484 million. This is followed by other sectors and products where co-operatives export significant values such as processing tomatoes.

'We are in no way in competition with local cheeses: they are different products that have different positioning, production standards, quality and costs: it is therefore absurd to hit a niche product like Parmigiano Reggiano to protect the American economy'. This is the comment of Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium on the duties imposed by Trump, 20% for the EU. A fixed tariff that also affects Parmesan cheese. 'The duties on our product,' Bertinelli points out, 'therefore go from 15% to 35%. Certainly the news does not make us happy, but Parmigiano Reggiano is a premium product and the price increase does not automatically lead to a reduction in consumption. We will work to try by negotiation to make people understand why it does not make sense to apply duties to a product like ours that is not in real competition with American Parmesans. We will roll up our sleeves to support demand in what is our first foreign market and which today accounts for 22.5% of the total export quota'.

"Following the Trump administration's announcement on the imposition of new 20% duties on all European exports, I express great concern for the repercussions this decision will have on our companies and on the fashion accessories sector". Thus Giovanna Ceolini, President of Confindustria Accessori Moda, "renewing the appeal for Italy and Europe to unite to oppose this decision and protect the interests of our companies. The issue does not only concern Made in Italy, but the entire European Union, which is in danger of suffering significant damage'. Ceolini recalls that "in 2024, exports to the United States of the footwear, leather goods, tannery and fur sectors, which as Confindustria Accessori Moda we represent, reached a value of almost 3 billion euro. Although this value has recorded a slight contraction of 3.5% with respect to 2023, it continues to reflect the solidity of our exports and the high appreciation for the quality of Made in Italy", stressing that "the introduction of the new duties will further compromise these results". For the association's president, "our sector, already severely tested by economic difficulties and geopolitical uncertainties, cannot afford a further setback: this is why we trust in a timely and effective intervention by the European institutions to protect the future of our companies and workers. We hope that, through the negotiations that Trump himself has mentioned, the situation can be resolved'.

The duties launched by the United States on EU products could lead to an increase in retail prices in Italy, with a sting of up to EUR 4.2 billion on household spending. The calculations come from Codacons, which has drawn up projections on the possible effects of the measures introduced by Trump. The lower exports of Italian and European companies to America, if not balanced by an increase in exports to third countries, would lead to a reduction in profits of billions of euros, which would force producers to increase prices in their markets of activity to compensate for the losses. - Codacons explains - If some sectors, such as the luxury industry, will be less affected by the duties due to the low price elasticity of demand, other sectors, from automotive to food, will suffer a severe blow.

Assuming an effect on the general Italian inflation rate of +0.3% as a consequence not only of the protectionist measures launched by the US, but also of the EU's counter-duties on products imported from the US, Italian family expenditure, consumption being equal, would increase by EUR 2.55 billion per year. But if the effect on inflation were higher, e.g. +0.5%, the sting would reach a total of EUR 4.23 billion. One of the sectors hardest hit by the duty tsunami will be the food sector, given the weight of Italian agri-food exports to the USA: a possible +1% increase in the retail prices of food and drinks sold in Italy would determine a 1.62 billion euro annual cost burden for consumers - Codacons calculates. Moreover, to all this would be added negative effects on mortgages and financing: a possible rise in inflation in the eurozone would lead the ECB to reverse course and opt for an increase in interest rates, with obvious damage for those who have taken out a variable-rate mortgage, concludes the association.