The arm wrestling between Washington and Brussels, seasoned by the invectives of Donald Trump, has reopened a question that has been hovering for years as a draft between the rooms of the ministries: how to protect European companies from overseas customs retaliation.
THE’Italian economyalready weighed down by an uncertain cycle and budgetary constraints that seem to be written on the stone, risks being with their backs to the wall. The companies that look at the United States as one of the main outlet markets could be expenses. For now, the government tries to shield the impact with a 6 billion shield, to be taken from the PNRR.
A move that, among the Brussels corridors, is not welcomed with enthusiasm. But in the meantime Meloni plays in advancetrying to carve out a tax margin where the European rules are still trying to understand which side to turn.
Trump accuses the European Union: trade and defense under attack
Donald Trump has returned to brandish the commercial war stick, and does not pass a minute without reiterating it. According to him, The European Union would be born to put the sticks in the wheels to the American economy. “The EU was created to commercially affect the US,” he said several times.
I do not pay, the former president came to: several states of the European block would have designed a drawing to build a monopoly at the expense of the United States. All while, according to him, Washington continues to finance NATO To protect allies who then play dirty on the commercial front. “The US pay NATO to defend nations that then penalize us in economic exchanges,” Trump sentenced.
The sight of Trump also the energy sectorwith the tenant of the White House that hopes for an increase in European purchases of energy resources from the United States. “The trade between the USA and the EU must be based on equity and reciprocity,” he specified.
Curious words if pronounced by a country that, only in 2022, exported about 56 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas in Europe, often at much higher prices than in the Asian market. Yet, judging by the numbers, the “reciprocity” seems to have only one direction: the United States, according to the data of the US Energy Information Administration, have seen the increase in 141% GNL exports to Europe in 2022 only compared to the previous year.
Europe then has reduced imports from Russia And accepted without being ahead long -term contracts with Washington. The free market works, but only when the gain is with stars and stripes.
The Government meets companies: open comparison at Palazzo Chigi
On the Italian front, Palazzo Chigi faces the delicate commercial match by convening a summit with entrepreneurial associations. Giorgia Meloni prepares a trip to Washington to face the question up close, but without detaching himself from the European line. Italy, rather than taking sides, tries to float between the two banks of the Atlantic, trying not to compromise the relations with Brussels or those with the Trump administration.
A balancer posture, which Tajani strengthened foreign affairs during the Council, reiterating Italian adhesion to the common European position. But in the meantime, Rome moves, perhaps in order not to find itself once again chasing events.
The impact on the agri -food sector and the first measures evaluated
There Tension on duties The Italian agri -food sector holds under pressure, with particular attention to those products that do not enjoy the international fame of historical brands. The initial analyzes show that more than Parmesan or parmesan, daily productions are risking, those that arrive on the shelves without golden labels.
At Palazzo Chigi it is preferred to keep the profile low, at least until the diplomacy has some margin of maneuver. But if the tables will skip, the executive is ready to intervene, with tools still to be defined, but already at the center of a close internal comparison.
Government strategies: between refreshments and targeted funds
The ministers Giorgetti (Economy), Urso (companies), Lollobrigida (agriculture) and Foti (European affairs) have already presented a series of Meloni to Meloni proposals to protect the most at risk economic sectors and strengthen the competitiveness of Italian companies. The main hypotheses provide targeted interventions similar to the refreshments adopted during the pandemic, subject to authorization from Brussels and with a temporary ease of the stability pact.
The hypothesis of 6 billion and doubts about the PNRR
Other hypotheses to the study include the strengthening of the fund dedicated to Made in Italy, while they prevail doubts significant on the use of the funds provided for by the PNRR And from the Transition 5.0 plan, suggested by Confindustria. The reasons for skepticism derive both from the operational difficulties related to these resources and from the need for new and complex negotiations with the European Commission.
Stability pact, suspension clause on the European table
Giorgetti liquidated Trump’s words as one provocationbut the knot is on the European ministers table. There Suspension clause of the stability pactalready used in 2020, remains the only serious lever to put fresh resources in the field. Brussels takes time: for now the openings on defense expenses are limited, while a general ease is still far away.
If the commission were to move, Italy would have more margin to finance the measures in support of the affected companies in deficit. Plan B remains that of a new common debt on the Next Generation EU model. Even Germany, which has just loosened the constitutional brake on debt, could this time not hold back.
