Steel tariffs a blow to manufacturing

Gearboxes and electric motors. And then motorbikes, cutlery and pumps, cranes and fittings, hand tools, tables and chairs, pipes and lawnmowers.

The list of products, already substantial in origin but further expanded in mid-August with another 407 codes, comes to involve billions of exports to the US, products from several categories, especially mechanics, that face higher tariffs than the average 15% negotiated in the EU.

If in fact in the first Trump administration the tariffs on steel had been more limited in scope, today the 50% increase extends to the steel (and aluminium) component present in hundreds of different codes, products for which there is an extra cost not only economic but also bureaucratic, in terms of additional declarations and certifications. "The impact for our categories is significant and unsustainable," explains Anima president Pietro Almici, "and we will take immediate action to bring the issue to the attention of politics: we had been 'sold' a 15% agreement but in reality this is not the case, if this is really the picture the real tariffs are higher.

Numerous areas of electronics as well as various mechanics are involved, for products that in many cases have steel as an essential component, such as cutlery and cookware.

"In the housewares area," explains Fiac Vice-President Andrea Barazzoni, "the US is worth 12 per cent of revenues, about EUR 100 million in terms of exports, and this aggravation represents a serious problem. There is a lot of concern in the market, we as a company will try to limit the impact on the market, but increasing the price list will be inevitable. The problem is twofold, because the tariffs are compounded by the devaluation of the dollar, which at the beginning of the year was almost at parity with the euro while today the ratio is 1.17'.