(Adnkronos) – Europe is an increasingly key market for Italian exports, but companies must also target “alternative“ markets like Latin America, Canada, Mexico and East Asia, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.
“Worth 220 billion euros, the European market is becoming key, and has always been crucial,” Tajani told public broadcaster Rai3’sReStart programme.
“It is right to focus on Europe, just as it is right to focus on alternative markets”
““India is good, where a trade agreement has been reached,” Tajani said, referring to the landmark free trade deal signed between the European Union and India after 20 years of talks which were accelerated by renewed tariff threats under Donald Trump’s second US presidency.
“But there is also Latin America, Canada, Mexico, the Far East, South Korea, Japan,” Tajani went on.
Trade disputes over tariffs “serve to bring about change, to show our ability to be responsive, and we have demonstrated this,” he said.
“Italy has increased exports in the face of tariffs: let’s remember exports account for almost 40% of our GDP and have grown by 3.3%, including to America,” Tajani continued.
Tajani urged the European Central Bank to intervene to help exports.
“If the euro-dollar exchange rate is too disadvantageous for the euro, this creates problems for exports, so I believe that the ECB must also take action,” he said.
Last Friday’s US Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs buoyed the euro against the dollar, after the greenback drew initial support from geopolitical tensions and firmer oil prices, according to analysts.
