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Giorgia Meloni has criticised Brussels for responding with retaliatory tariffs to US levies and warned that the tit-for-tat dangers fuelling inflation within the EU.
The Italian prime minister, who’s assembly fellow EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, urged the European Fee to open pressing negotiations with the Trump administration to avert the damaging penalties of a commerce battle.
“It isn’t clever to fall into the temptation of reprisals that change into a vicious circle by which everybody loses,” she advised the Italian parliament on Tuesday. “We should proceed to work concretely and pragmatically to seek out doable frequent floor and keep away from a commerce battle that may profit neither the US nor Europe.”
Her feedback come after the fee — which runs commerce coverage on behalf of the bloc — mentioned it will impose tariffs of as much as 50 per cent on US imports, together with whiskey, bikes and denims from April 1 in retaliation for Washington’s choice to reintroduce a 25 per cent levy on imports of metal and aluminium. US President Donald Trump has since threatened to impose a 200 per cent tariff on all European alcohol imports, together with Italian wine and spirits.
Meloni, a rightwing politician and the one European chief to attend Trump’s inauguration, has walked a tightrope between sustaining good relations with Washington whereas siding with the EU in describing Russia because the aggressor in its battle with Ukraine. On Tuesday she expressed assist for Trump’s efforts to finish the battle and for restoring intelligence sharing and navy help to Ukraine after Kyiv agreed to again his proposed 30-day ceasefire.
However she additionally warned that an escalating commerce battle with the US would cut back Europeans’ buying energy and power the European Central Financial institution to lift rates of interest.
“The consequence can be inflation and financial tightening that dampens financial development,” she warned. “Italy’s energies should be spent within the seek for frequent sense options between the US and Europe.”
Meloni additionally poured chilly water on French and German requires Europe to chart its personal path on defence, insisting that with out the US there was no viable safety for the continent, together with for Ukraine.
“It’s proper that Europe equips itself to do its half, however it’s at greatest naive and at worst loopy to assume that at this time I can do it alone with out Nato, outdoors that Euro-Atlantic framework that has assured safety for 75 years,” she mentioned.
The Italian chief mentioned her coalition was dedicated to strengthening Italian safety however expressed issues about ReArm Europe, a Brussels plan to lift €150bn in loans for nationwide defence investments and exempt navy spending from the bloc’s fiscal guidelines. She mentioned the identify evoked a scramble for deadly weapons — one thing that’s jarring for a lot of in Italy, with its sturdy, church-influenced pacifist streak.
Rome’s capability to utilize the relaxed fiscal guidelines and tackle extra debt for defence stays restricted on account of its present debt burden of greater than 135 per cent of GDP. Meloni mentioned she would transfer prudently on further borrowing.
She additionally expressed critical reservations a few Franco-British initiative to ship European troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers, describing it as a “very advanced, dangerous and ineffective possibility”.
However she mentioned her coalition agreed with the necessity to beef up Italy’s potential to fend off cyber and different hybrid assaults, together with on undersea cables and power infrastructure.
“Now we have at all times believed in that bold — and I believe now unpostponable — aim of constructing that stable European pillar of Nato.”
Extra reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi
