The duties announced by US President Donald Trump could put at risk 2.2 billion of Italian food exports, with heavy bad effects on Italy’s trade balance. This is what Ismea research company noted after the announcement of the US administration. In 2018, Made in Italy food exports to the United States reached almost 4.25 billion euros. The most exported Italian products to the USA are wine, pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and cheese. These are also almost all the categories that would be penalized if any duties were introduced. “The USA is the third destination market for Italian food & beverage, after Germany and France. It represents 10% of total Italian agri-food exports. Duties could have serious consequences for Italian food companies” – says Raffaele Borriello, General manager of Ismea.
ITALIAN FOOD THREATENED BY DUTIES
The ‘black list’ includes for example Pecorino Romano cheese, for which the US market has proved to be decisive. In fact, the drop of about 30% (- 40% in volume) in exports to the United States is at the root of the dramatic crisis that the sector is experiencing in Italy. Another product that could be targeted by duties is extra virgin olive oil, whose export to the US in 2018 reached 359 million euros, with a +60% growth trend in the last 10 years.
PROSECCO FACING BREXIT, TRUMP
A severe blow could result from the application of duties on Italian wines. Currently, with about 1.5 billion euros the USA represents a quarter of Italian wine total exports in the world. A decisive role in this growth can be attributed to Prosecco, whose export sales to the USA have grown by 440% in the last 10 years, reaching 334 million euros. At the same time, Prosecco is facing Brexit. In fact, exports of Italian wines to the UK amounted to 827 million euros in 2018 (+1.9% on 2017 and +79% on 2009), equal to 13% of Italian wine total exports. More than half of the shipments across the English Channel are represented by sparkling wines, which recorded a very positive dynamic in the last decade (+389 million euros between 2009 and 2018).
