Miranda: "Italy does not have to fear from duties"

“It seemed that the signing of the executive orders was supposed to be on the day of the Apocalypse, and instead the duties were not inserted. As regards the duties for Europe, for example, the executive order only says that a commission to study the situation country by country. Then within 90 days a report will be produced and then on the basis of that we will discuss and decide what to do.” The founder and president of ExportUsa New York Corp. Lucio Miranda told AGI, answering some questions on possible scenarios linked to Trump’s policies, also in relation to Italian companies.

“The position has softened a lot, even compared to China”, assures Miranda. “As for Mexico and Canada, net of the 25% tariffs, yesterday it turned out that what Trump actually wants is an early reopening of negotiations on the trade agreement.” According to the founder of ExportUsa, the new president’s statements “should not be taken literally”.

What he will do, “most likely, is to start bilateral talks between the United States and the various European countries to negotiate concessions. So in the end there won’t be tariffs. They certainly won’t rain down on all commercial categories and on all Villages”. In this context, “Italy should be positioned well”. Also because “personal and business relations between Italy and the United States through Giorgia Meloni are evolving in a positive way. So in my opinion there is nothing to fear, certainly not what is feared”. Not to mention that “Trump knows very well, beyond the rhetoric, that he has inherited from Biden an economy that is at its best. So he will do everything not to ruin it.”

“I would tell Italian companies not to worry, because from the signs we see we don’t seem to see this whole threat on the horizon”, underlines Miranda. “And as we go forward the severity of the threat diminishes. Even in light of those relationships that I was talking about, which are more of an opportunity.”

“After all, the American market is the primary market, given that it is the most solid economy, with the highest consumption, the highest GDP, the most solid business environment. We need to find a way to get along”, he highlights the founder of ExportUsa.

“But the recommendation to be made, rather than to companies – because in the event of tariffs the only thing companies can do is produce in the USA -, is to governments and the European Commission”.

“If we stop at the numbers we have lost”, assures Miranda, because “American duties are much lower than ours. If I export a class of motor vehicles that is quite common in the United States, for example, the duties are 2.5% , if I export them to Europe or Italy they are at 10%. So if we persist in saying that the duties in America are too high, we have already lost.”

What needs to be done, therefore, is to “open up new options. For example, agree to import an entire class of products into Europe with fewer or no restrictions. But for this Europe would need to acquire a new, more unscrupulous form of negotiation and innovative. Instead they are still very stuck. We have to get on the same level to fight, otherwise we lose.”

“50% of the duties on industrial goods, which are the backbone of the Italian system, have zero duty in the United States”, Miranda points out, while “the average duty is 2%. It is difficult to win the numbers game when the situation this is it. We need to move in a much more pragmatic and innovative way”, he concludes.