Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans to meet with the US President Donald Trump on April 16 to discuss the possibility of mutual tariff reductions between America and the European Union.
This is reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing sources in the Italian government.
Meloni could facilitate talks between Brussels and Washington to avoid a trade war. A return to zero tariffs may not be acceptable to Trump now, so one option is to set reciprocal tariffs at 10%.
Meloni does not have an EU mandate for these talks. However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hopes that Meloniʼs meeting with Trump will be successful — they have a warm relationship, which could become the basis for the start of constructive talks between the US and the EU.
Meloni is expected to speak with von der Leyen before and after her visit to the US. While some European leaders fear that Meloni may seek trade "privileges" only for Italy (for example, in the agribusiness sector), the government emphasizes that the negotiations are taking place solely within the framework of the EUʼs powers as a single market.
What preceded
On April 2, the US President Donald Trump reported that he would impose tariffs on goods from other countries. The new tariffs will apply to more than 180 countries and territories (not including Russia, North Korea, Cuba and Belarus, which are already under sanctions). A 10% tariff was imposed on Ukraine. The European Union was hit with a 20% tariff.
The US tariffs have shaken global stock markets: the largest stock indexes in Asia and Europe have collapsed, oil prices and cryptocurrency exchange rates have fallen. The US stock index S&P 500 also opened with a decline.
To prevent a trade war, the EU has offered the US zero tariffs on industrial goods.
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