(Adnkronos) – Italy will on 21 March unveil “counter-measures” to looming United States tariffs against the European Union and is trying to predict which products will be hit – foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
‘We have to see on which products and when the US will levy duties. So let’s wait and prepare ourselves,” Tajani told Italy’s main transport, logistics and business services trade fair Let EXPO in Verona.
“We shouldn’t panic over every statement that comes from the US either. We are preparing countermeasures. We will announce the Italian ones on 21 March in Rome, at Villa Madama,” Tajani said.
Italy – which second largest variety of export commodities after China – is also already exploring possible new markets to counter the economic impact of US tariffs, Tajani said.
“We are studying which new markets to explore. I’m thinking of Mexico, Vietnam, the Gulf countries, Turkey and Japan,’ Tajani continued.
“’We are carrying out product studies to boost exports from our country…we are working on a strategy. The ministry has been busy with this for months, we have had many meetings and the conclusion will be on the 21st,” said Tajani.
Overall negotiation on international trade rules must done by the European Union which sets the legal framework, and the US can decide which sectors to hit with duties, Tajani underlined.
“We (Italy) can make assessments on exports, i.e. what to export, which products, which other markets to explore,” he said.
“At the end of the first Trump administration some Italian sectors were spared tariffs, Tajani continued.
“I don’t know what will happen this time, but our experts are really trying to understand,” he said.
European Union countries are bracing for a first round of US tariffs on Wednesday – a 25% levy on aluminium and steel imports which will also apply to ‘derivative products’ like steel machinery parts and aluminium-rich products.
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Monday the US did not seem to be engaging in talks to avert tariffs and the EU would respond to protect its businesses, workers and consumers.
