Lock the White House Watch Newsletter for free
Your Guide to Washington and the World’s 2024 US Election Means
Giorgia Meloni criticized Brussels for responding with retaliatory tariffs on US taxation, warning that TIT risks driving EU inflation.
The Italian prime minister, who met fellow EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, urged the European Commission to hold emergency negotiations with the Trump administration to avoid the harmful consequences of the trade war.
“It’s not wise to fall into the temptation of retaliation, which is a vicious cycle where everyone loses,” she told the Italian parliament on Tuesday. “We must continue to work concretely and practically to find a possible common foundation and avoid a trade war that does not benefit either the US or Europe.”
Her comments come after a committee running trade policies on behalf of the Bullock, but said it would impose a duties of up to 50% on US imports, including US imports, including whiskey, motorcycles and jeans, starting April 1. US President Donald Trump has since threatened to impose a 200% tariff on all European alcohol imports, including Italian wine and spirits.
Meloni, a right-wing politician and the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration, walked the tightrope while maintaining good relations with Washington during surveillance with the EU, when describing Russia as an invader of the war with Ukraine. On Thursday, she expressed her support to restore intelligence news and military aid to Ukraine after agreeing to Trump’s efforts to end the war and Kiev’s proposed 30-day ceasefire.
But she also warned that an escalating trade war with the US would reduce the purchasing power of Europeans and force the European Central Bank to raise interest rates.
“The outcome will be inflation and financial tightness that will weaken economic growth,” she warned. “Italian energy must be spent searching for common sense solutions between the US and Europe.”
Meloni also poured cold water into the French and German continents, calling for the continent to paint its own path to defense, arguing that without the US there would be no viable security for the continent, including Ukraine.
“It’s right for Europe to equip itself to do its part, but it’s in the worst case, it’s insane to think that you can do it alone without NATO, outside the Euro-Atlantic framework that has been guaranteed security for 75 years,” she said.
The Italian leader said her coalition is committed to strengthening Italy’s security, but expressed concern about Refm Europe, which plans to raise 150 billion euros in loans for defense investment and exempt military spending from bloc’s fiscal rules. She said the name evoked a deadly weapon scramble – for many in Italy, there is a streak of powerful and influenced pacifists in the church.
Using relaxed fiscal rules, the ability to assume more debt for defense is limited due to the current debt burden of over 135% of GDP. Meloni said she would move carefully for the extra borrowing.
Recommended
She also expressed serious reservations on Franco Britt’s initiative to send European troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers, describing it as “a very complicated, dangerous and ineffective option.”
But she said her coalition agreed to the need to strengthen Italy’s ability to dodge cyber and other hybrid attacks, including submarine cables and energy infrastructure.
“We always think that ambitious and now we don’t have a goal.
Additional Reports by Giuliana Ricozzi
