(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign ministry and some 70 business and trade associations have held a meeting of a new trade task force ahead of baseline 15% US tariffs on European Union goods due to come into force on Friday.
The task force meeting took place on Monday and focussed on specific clauses of the framework US-EU trade agreement agreed between US president Donald Trump and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on 27 July, according the foreign ministry statement.
The meeting took a close look at a clause in the accord which states that the baseline 10% tariff for goods in maritime transit or stored for commercialisation prior to 8 August will remain in force until 5 October, the statement said.
A separate clause which foresees a tariff hike of up to 40% for triangular transactions aimed at circumventing tariffs and involving countries subject to lower duties than those applied to the EU was also in the meeting’s cross-hairs, said the statement.
“While awaiting finalisation of the EU-US Joint Declaration and the agreement expected to provide a more stable framework for the new transatlantic trade relations, the contents of the Executive Order signed by President Trump on 31 July were presented,” the statement said.
“The ensuing discussion provided an opportunity to clarify the implications of the Executive Order for Italian businesses, as well as the prospects for the continuation of EU-US negotiations,” the statement continued.
The European Commission was on Tuesday set to launch an urgent procedure to suspend EU countermeasures due into enter into force on 7 August in the absence of a US tariffs deal, the statement pointed out.
EU member states will then have 14 days – until 12 August – to validate the suspension (for six months) of the retaliatory tariffs, the statement noted.
Monday’s meeting followed a meeting on 28 July between foreign minister Antonio Tajani and Italy’s trade agency ITA, state export credit agency SACE, state investment agency SIMEST, state lender CDP and the main national trade associations, which created the trade task force, according to the statement.
The newly created trade task force has a dedicated phone line and email address, the statement noted, providing details for both.
