In his message to the Assembly of Federacciai last November 10th, Giorgia Meloni announced the so-called Transatlantic Plan. To better understand what it is about, it is necessary to remember the recent international situation. In the summer of 2025, the European Union and the United States published a joint declaration that paves the way for a structured agreement on coordinated measures to combat unfair trade practices and strengthen supply chains.
Among the options on the table are import management mechanisms based on tariff quotas, cooperation on customs controls and technical standards and closer harmonization of measures against tariff evasion. These guidelines constitute the operational perimeter within which Meloni places his Plan.
What makes intervention urgent is the US government’s decision to increase duties on metals such as steel and aluminum and now also copper and derivatives, risking shifting trade flows, influencing raw material prices and creating imbalances in European production chains, with direct impacts on the steel industry, automotive, machinery and infrastructure.
What the Transatlantic Plan is and what it provides
From the Prime Minister’s message to Federacciai it is clear that the objective of the Plan is to create a common protection framework against overcapacity, based on shared rules for access to markets and for the management of production surpluses at a global level.
The Government therefore wants to seek negotiated solutions with Washington that avoid the escalation of US duties. Furthermore, it is also intended to strengthen European industrial policy, so as to reduce the vulnerability of the industry to global raw material fluctuations.
A transatlantic agreement could avoid widespread retaliation and offer European companies more predictable rules.
For example, a tariff quota (TRQ) system would favor limited, sustainable exports to the United States in the face of controls on the flow of low-cost material from subsidized or overcapacity markets. And cooperation on combating unfair competition could target non-compliant practices more effectively than unilateral and unstable measures.
The next steps
The plan approval process is full of political and technical obstacles. On the American side, the interests of local steel producers and sectors that benefit from strong protections are not easily erased.
On the other hand, many European countries fear that an agreement with Washington could imply concessions on other trade or regulatory fronts.
Additionally, solutions require precise definition of product categories, objective criteria for identifying subsidies, import monitoring systems and periodic review procedures. In short, a notable administrative effort.
For Italy, however, the urgency is practical. Steel companies and the industrial fabric that depends on steel and aluminum risk finding themselves crushed by energy costs, competition from low-priced products and the impact of US tariffs on final markets.
Meloni’s signal is therefore also political, as well as economic.
Ask Europe not to limit itself to tariff countermeasures, but to equip itself with a coherent industrial strategy, i.e. investments in the decarbonisation of the steel industry, incentives for the recycling of metal waste, simplification for the steel innovation chain.
In any case, if the Transatlantic Plan were to translate into an EU-US operational agreement, it is likely that a transitional phase will open in which quotas and preference criteria will be negotiated.
If the negotiations fail, there will remain a need for decisive European measures and compensatory measures, investment support for the green transition of steel and policies to ensure access to strategic raw materials.
