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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
Someday after Donald Trump’s sweeping “liberation day” tariffs had been unveiled, I used to be watching Italian tv analyse the doubtless fallout of American protectionism after I felt a shock of recognition.
On-screen, a horrified official from Coldiretti, Italy’s highly effective agribusiness foyer, was explaining how the US president’s proposed 20 per cent tariff on EU items would make imported Italian meals costlier for American customers, pushing them in the direction of “pretend Italian” or “Italian-sounding” options.
His desk was laid with offending wares: US-made “Italian tomato sauce” and containers of grated parmesan — an inexpensive knock-off of Italy’s prized Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. There, among the many objects of his outrage, contempt and probably pity, I noticed considered one of my very own favorite childhood treats: a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs.
I had not considered Chef Boyardee pasta — not to mention eaten it — since I used to be a child. For me at this time, as for the Italians, the prospect of consuming pre-cooked, reheated pasta from a can appears a culinary abomination.
Like most American youngsters, I adored spaghetti with meatballs and even sang the silly song about it. However it’s exhausting to seek out on restaurant menus in Italy. Right here, pasta is a primary course; meatballs are a second: by no means the twain do meet. An Italian buddy says he had spaghetti and meatballs as a dish solely as soon as — in New York.
But the sight of that Chef Boyardee pasta evoked highly effective recollections of my mom’s pantry and my delight when she — drained after work — would ask me to fetch a type of valuable cans for our dinner.
Overcome by my very own nostalgia, I realised that Italian meals producers’ case towards Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on EU imports — the dire affect on American consuming habits — may fall flat.
The US imported €7.8bn value of Italian cheese, olive oil, wines and different delicacies final 12 months, up practically 17 per cent from 2023 — fuelled by wholesalers stocking up forward of tariffs. Coldiretti argues the first victims of Trump’s tariffs — now largely paused for 90 days — shall be US customers compelled to pay €1.6bn extra a 12 months for the same amount of real Italian meals and wine (if the tariffs are reimposed).
What actually galls Italian exporters, although, is the prospect that some People shall be priced out of real Italian fare, compelled to downgrade to what Coldiretti sees as inferior native substitutes. They dub these “counterfeit”, as distinct from genuine Italian-made items.
However, except for the section of prosperous foodies — usually congregated in Democrat states or large cities — US customers, particularly Trump’s Maga base, might not discover or certainly care.
I believe that few People — not like Italians — actually perceive the excellence between US-made parmesan and the real article, which is produced in regulated portions in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna area. Producers there should adhere to 17-pages of strict rules that even dictate what cows can eat — and the place their fodder is grown.
The Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium allocates coveted cheese quotas to native dairies, polices the method and has to certify cheese as real and as much as normal. It has arrange a US workplace to “educate” customers on these issues. As somebody who fortunately dumped loads of Kraft “parmesan” atop my childhood spaghetti, I’m wondering how that awareness-raising marketing campaign will go.
Affronts to Italian sensibilities frequently emerge. Simply earlier than Trump’s “liberation day”, Coldiretti warned of a what it considers a brand new copycat Prosecco, the glowing wine from a exactly outlined space surrounding Venice (People bought round 130mn bottles final 12 months). The launch of the California-made CalSecco had Italian wineries up in arms, provoked by the title. This obvious bid to nibble on the US marketplace for Prosecco, valued at €500mn, led them to contemplate authorized motion, although for now they’ve determined towards it.
Trump’s pause will maintain real imported Italian delicacies inside attain of US connoisseurs for now. However abnormal People’ urge for food for pretend Italian meals is unlikely to be sated quickly.
