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<\/p>\nSteel: 50%. Copper: 50%. Cars: up to 25%. But an even bigger Trump-era levy looms: 107% on Italian pasta. Mamma mia.<\/p>\n
It started with the US Commerce Department launching what it says was a routine antidumping review, based on allegations that Italian pasta makers sold product into the US at below-market prices and undercut local competitors. <\/p>\n
That has led to a threat of 92% duties, which would come on top of the 15% tariff US president Donald Trump\u2019s administration imposed on European exports generally.<\/p>\n
The news sent shockwaves through Italy, where 13 producers would be subject to the whopping one-two punch. They say sales in their second biggest export market would shrivel if prices to American consumers more than double. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump speaks to the media after boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
And while the measure would hardly prompt pasta shortages, it still has perplexed importers like Sal Auriemma, whose shop in Philadelphia\u2019s Italian market, Claudio Specialty Food, has been operating for over 60 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cPasta is a pretty small sector to pick on. I mean, there\u2019s a lot bigger things to pick on,” said Auriemma, pointing to luxury items as an alternative.<\/p>\n
But pasta? \u201cIt\u2019s basic food,\u201d he said. “Something\u2019s got to be sacred.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pasta adds heft to Italy’s economy<\/p>\n
Italy is a nation of avid pasta eaters. <\/p>\n
Less known is that most of the tortellini, spaghetti and rigatoni its factories churn out gets sent abroad. The US accounts for about 15% of its \u20ac4 billion in exports, making it Italy\u2019s largest market after Germany, data from farmers\u2019 association Coldiretti show.<\/p>\n
The punitive pasta premium has become a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre for Italy\u2019s politicians, executives and economists. <\/p>\n
Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida told lawmakers in mid-October that the government was working with the European Commission and engaging in diplomatic efforts, while supporting the companies\u2019 legal actions to oppose US sanctions.<\/p>\n
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic addressed reporters in Rome last month, stressing the lack of evidence backing the US decision and calling the combined 107% levy \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margherita Mastromauro, president of the pasta makers sector of Unione Italiana Food, told The Associated Press that prices for Italian pasta in the US remain high, and certainly higher than American-made rivals \u2014 undermining any dumping claim.<\/p>\n
She said that the measures could deal a fatal blow to small- and medium-sized producers. Lucio Miranda, president of consultancy group Export USA, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA duty rate of 107% would definitely kill this flow of export,\u201d Miranda, who is Italian, said by phone from New York. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be something that you can just dump on the consumer and move on, life continues. It will definitely be a deal killer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wacky Mac owner cries foul<\/p>\n
The Commerce Department\u2019s investigation started in 2024 after complaints from Missouri-based 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, which owns pasta brand Ronzoni, and Illinois-based Winland Foods, whose multiple brands include Prince, Mueller\u2019s and Wacky Mac.<\/p>\n
The office\u2019s review focused on La Molisana and Garofalo, chosen as primary respondents because they are Italy\u2019s two largest exporters, the Commerce Department said in an emailed statement. <\/p>\n
Any sale price below either producers\u2019 costs or the price they charge in the Italian market would be considered dumping, in line with numerous other reviews of Italian pasta since 1996, it said.<\/p>\n
The two companies presented information incorrectly or withheld it, significantly impeding analysis, according to the Commerce Department. <\/p>\n
And in the face of these alleged deficiencies, the office presented its 92% duty estimate, which it extended to 11 other companies based on an assumption the two companies\u2019 behaviour was representative.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter they screwed up their initial responses, the Commerce Department explained to them what the problems were and asked them to fix those problems; they didn\u2019t,\u201d White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an emailed response to the AP’s questions. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then Commerce communicated the requirements again, and they didn\u2019t answer for a third time.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Molisana declined to comment when contacted by the AP. <\/p>\n
Garofalo didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The sanctions would be applied not just to imports going forward, but also the 12 months through June 2024, according to the Commerce Department. <\/p>\n
It added that only 16% of total Italian pasta imports may be affected. Its final decision is scheduled for January 2, which could be extended by 60 days.<\/p>\n
‘Completely senseless’<\/p>\n
A little over an hour\u2019s drive northeast from Naples is Benevento, a sleepy hilltop town of 55,000 people famed for its ancient Roman theatre and Aglianico red wine. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also home to Pasta Rummo, founded in 1846, which prides itself on its seven-phase, \u201cslow work\u201d production method.<\/p>\n
CEO Cosimo Rummo is outraged by the threat to his company\u2019s annual 20 million euros in exports to the US<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tariffs are completely senseless,\u201d Rummo said in a phone interview. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are fast-moving consumer goods \u2026 Who would ever buy a pack of pasta that costs 10 dollars, the same price as a bottle of wine?\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he has no intention to start producing pasta stateside, as some companies have done and so would be spared the prospective levy. <\/p>\n
That includes Barilla, which for decades has been the main Italian pasta brand in the US and now has large-scale production facilities there.<\/p>\n
An unsavoury prospect<\/p>\n
When the transatlantic imbroglio started simmering, Robert Tramonte of Arlington, Virginia sought assurances. <\/p>\n
The owner of The Italian Store called his supplier, who told him there\u2019s enough pasta inventory stocked in the warehouse to keep prices steady until Easter.<\/p>\n
Tramonte\u2019s clients count on him for top-shelf product and he was relieved that, at least for the time being, they won\u2019t have to shell out for the real deal. <\/p>\n
Or worse \u2013 perish the thought! \u2013 purchase made-in-America pasta.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve tried to make Italian products and use the same ingredients, but the source wasn\u2019t Italy,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they just didn\u2019t taste the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steel: 50%. Copper: 50%. Cars: up to 25%. But an even bigger Trump-era levy looms: 107% on Italian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,65,111,139,64,69,1745,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-136858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-north-america","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-uk-europe","15":"tag-us-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}