Exporting mechanical bulls: the impact of US tariffs on Brescia's world-leading company
The Brescia-based world leader in mechanical bulls is at risk due to tariffs imposed by the US: it exports 70% of its production
3' min read
3' min read
Mechanical bull riding machines, typical rides of the American rodeo culture and yet a product of excellence made in Italy, also fear tariffs. Bull riding machines are an Italian export-oriented niche, especially in the United States. A company from Brescia, on Lake Garda, is the world's leading producer: 'Italian craftsmanship, inimitable products, a quality that cannot be replicated elsewhere'. So far zero tariffs, now there is alarm over Trump's tariffs.
"If you put in 15 per cent, we may be the best in the world, but if a customer cannot afford it, it becomes difficult. It is an alarm that concerns an entire sector, my entire category": entrepreneur Erika Tessarolo produces mechanical bulls in Manerba del Garda, and has made the family business M.Art Technology the world's leading company in the production of these mechanical attractions under the brand name "Show games".
And she is the spokesperson for Confartigianato costruttori di attrazioni, the companies that make rides, games, amusement park equipment. It is a sector, she explains, that 'does not even have an Ateco code: it has never had funds, support, aid. Many do not even know we exist. We need attention that there has never been on these enterprises'.
The company from Manerba del Garda "has held out against the closure of Russia: it was a strong market for attractions, they preferred the Italian ones, superior product quality and safety, we are the only ones with all the certifications. Today there is also the Arab market, a good export, but it is not stable. Now they are putting tariffs on us in the US: where are we going to sell? So the sector is getting more and more lost, companies are closing down'.
Risk of tariffs
The company, re-launched by Erika Tessarolo ("a craftswoman, young, in this sector is something that surprises abroad as the quality of the products," she says) was born from the passion of her father, Ugo: "They know him in the world with the nickname Tex, a lover of the American western and country world, he had understood that we could make these products in Italy much better than they were made in the United States, with our craftsmen, with more quality and more safety.
