Lombardy, tariffs agreement benefits the US

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Now that a political agreement on tariffs has been reached between the European Union and the United States, Europe must take responsibility for supporting its industry. In this context, the Lombardy Region claims its commitment to support some strategic sectors such as automotive, chemicals and steel, also within alliances and with agreements with other major European manufacturing regions. "The closure of the tariffs agreement is only useful to clarify and define the rules without leaving companies in uncertainty. Uncertainty does not allow for planning, and non-programming for Lombardy means stopping,' said Lombardy Region's Councillor for Economic Development Guido Guidesi, representing Lombardy's official position. "That said, the agreement is beneficial for the United States. The situation in Europe is this: we buy energy from the United States and suffer the invasion of Chinese products, not only limiting our export potential through tariffs but also restricting our ability to produce; and this is even more true if we consider the stupid European rules, bureaucracy and rigidities'.

The position of particular attention to the situation is also shared by the business world. Antonio Gozzi, president of Federacciai and Confindustria's delegate for the Mattei Plan, said that the "problem is not so much the backlash that companies may suffer from Trump's tariffs, but rather the inevitable invasion of Asian products that, faced with the American barrage, will focus on the European market", calling for a change of pace in the European Union, which must first of all eliminate internal barriers and change its decision-making processes, and also rethink those regulations that have put some of its leading sectors at risk: precisely steel, chemicals and automotive. Entrepreneur Emma Marcegaglia, who heads the family's steel group and has been number one in Confindustria, also took the same line. For Marcegaglia, even if uncertainty is removed, tariffs are still high and the agreement is not good for the EU, pointing out that "with China the US continues to negotiate. If the tariffs imposed on Beijing are different from ours, the balance with Asia will also change'.

In this context, continues Guidesi, 'it is paradoxical how the Commission, which says it is defending Europe, is instead destroying it economically. An all-European industrial suicide that is now evident in the automotive sector and risks replication in other sectors. Either Europe will change quickly or deindustrialisation will take place once and for all', stressing that 'the Commission has been at a standstill for too long, we are calling for fewer rules and more openness to "technological neutrality". So far nothing has been done: now time is running out, and if no action is taken, Lombardy will be ready to lead a protest that will affect the entire manufacturing sector'.

A call to action has also been made repeatedly by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, who argues that the European Union should 'implement a new extraordinary industrial plan for companies' and the Italian government should at the same time commit itself to 'putting in place measures that incentivise investment and above all succeed in increasing productivity'.