Then the President of the American Elekt Donald Trump and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on January 4, 2025.
Italian government Reuters
The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is to meet with US President Donald Trump on Thursday due to tense diligence with the European Union compared to tariffs.
Meloni's visit to Washington makes it the first European leader to meet the president since he has announced the tariffs for European imports at the beginning of this month.
Trump is a fan of Meloni, the leader of right-wing populist brothers of the Italian-Taka Party, who gained importance with a wave of other similar populist parties in Europe. He described her as a “fantastic woman” who “really took Europe with storm” when they met in Mar-a-Lago in January.
But this contact-and diplomatic skills of the Meloni-Zostana tested on Thursday, because the leaders meet in broader fears related to the full trading war between the US and the block.
At the beginning of April, Trump announced a 20% “mutual” tariff for all imported EU goods as part of its extensive global trade tariff policy. Since then, it has reduced the obligation to 10% for 90 days, enabling negotiations to find a trade agreement.
In turn, the EU stopped a retaliation 25% tariff focused on US exports worth EUR 21 billion (23.8 billion dollars). President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen commented last week That the EU wants to “give negotiations a chance”, but if the conversations do not turn out to be satisfactory, EU remedies will start.
The EU will carefully observe the Meloni meeting with Trump, hoping that he can help in conversations to find a compromise to solve what Trump perceives as unfair and unbalanced trade relations due to the permanent surplus of EU trade from the USA
Meloni was described as a “whisper of Trump” Who could calm the US leader position when it comes to EU trade. She won the nickname after Trump clearly spent a five-hour meeting with her at his Mar-A-Lago center in Florida in January. He also has the vice president of JD Vance in Rome on April 18.
Thursday's meeting “is a key opportunity for her to demonstrate both her closeness with President Donald Trump and her potential role of a reliable interlocutor capable of revitalizing transatlantic dialogue,” said Wolfango Piccoli, co-chairman of the resilient at Tneo's risk.
“However, despite the fact that she had conducted this visit before the period of” Liberation Day “(the American name given by American officials on the day, global tariffs were announced on April 2), fears are growing that it may undo it, especially considering the recent treatment of Trump's various foreign leaders,” the analyst added.
“One of the main challenges of this visit will be to show that Melons acts as a mediator on behalf of the entire EU, not only in defense of Italian interests.”
The President of the American Elekt Donald Trump meets the premiere of Italy with Giorgia Meloni in MAR-A-Lago in Palm Beach in Florida, January 4, 2025.
Italian government Reuters
Italy oriented export, the third largest euro area economy could be very compatible with the EU-USA trading agreement, because it will not want to lose the lucrative market for its highest export to the States. These include medical machines and products, as well as cars, clothes, food and drinks. However, the problematically for Trump's administration, Rome recorded a trade surplus of $ 43.9 billion in the USA in 2024, American data show.
When Trump's Trump tariffs were announced on the EU import, Melons were among the leaders lamenting in this decision, claiming that it was “bad”, but encouraging its European counterparts to prevent the trade war.
“Tariffs are wrong and not in the interest of either side,” said Meloni, noting that Italy will “do everything in our power to work with the USA with the USA, in order to embrace the trade war, which would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players.”
Melons also warned that Italian exports of food and drinks can be firmly affected by tariffs, noting that “Italian agri-food products are sought all over the world from Europe.”
“It should be remembered that the United States is the second largest target market, and exports increased by 17% in 2024. The American market is fundamental for us.”
Piccoli Teneo said that the cautious reaction of the telons to the American tariff was also caused by its belief that the greatest risk for the Italian economy is not in the tariffs themselves, especially because they are used in a reduced form, “but in the potential consequences of a full -fledged trading war covering the tariffs returned or in the US deprivation of European defense.”
“Such scenarios can significantly affect Italian public finances. Current estimates suggest that tariffs can reduce Italian exports by 0.3% to 0.5% GDP, although the actual effect is probably smaller due to the limited transition effect; many Italian exports are premium or niche products, which hinders to replace in a short period.”