Is the April 2ndthe “day of liberation”, the date set by Donald Trump for the start of the application of the duties announced for weeks against the economies towards which the US have a negative commercial balance. Among these there is the whole European Unionwho recently confirmed that he will respond to the American initiative with countermeasures.
Among the hypotheses, also that of taxing more heavily i technological giants Americans. Meanwhile, there is concern in the ranks of the government: Italy fears an escalation that could have negative impacts on the country’s economy, often driven by exports.
Von der Leyen announces European counter-to-date
The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen spoke of American duties, clearly reiterating the EU position:
This clash is not in anyone’s interest: that between the EU and the US is the largest and most prosperous commercial relationship in the world and we would all be better if we could find a constructive solution (…). At the same time, it must also be clear: Europe has not started this clash. We don’t necessarily want to take revenge, but we have a strong plan to take revenge if necessary.
Trump has declared that he will implement universal duties at 20%, starting the countries he believes behave “incorrectly” with the United States. That is to say those with which the USAs go in negative, importing more than they export.
The hypothesis of European duties against the big tech
For the EU it is not easy to impose duties on American products, because the United States export relatively little to Europe compared to the size of their economy. The Commercial surplus of the block towards Washington in 2023 was of 157 billion euros.
For this reason, the leader of the European People’s Party, center -right, Manfred Weberadvanced another proposal:
Trump threatens the best economic model in the world. Europe is 22% of global GDP, we are an economic power, while the United States is 25%, so we are the same! If Trump focuses on European goods, we should focus more on American services. Digital giants pay little our digital infrastructure.
The proposal would therefore be to damage the main engine of American success in recent decades, technology. Large companies such as Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon and Openai have already had problems with the EU in the past and have been forced to pay billionaire fines. Despite this, some of them have in Europe, in particular in Irelanda similar tax paradise, their international locations.
The fears of Italy and the warning of Urso
The Italian economy could suffer serious damage: duties threaten the South. Our country exports about every year 65 billion euros of goods towards the other bank of the Atlantic. For this reason, the government would prefer a more diplomatic solution than the commercial war that could be expected after the European response to Trump’s duties.
A fear expressed by the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso A SkyTG24:
In an increasingly chaotic world it is necessary to have caution and responsibility and it is what we ask our EU. We wait for Trump’s decisions because he often said things and done others. We wait for the decisions and prepare our answer, but the escalation should be avoided.
With countermeasures, the minister explained,
We hurt ourselves on our own. The solution is not to react purely creating an escalation in the commercial war that would only have losers, but to have a wider strategic policy by creating new bilateral agreements, for example with India.
In short, the minister reiterated the anti duties plan illustrated by his colleague Antonio Tajani, which provides for a diversification of Italian exports to Asian economies.
