The possible effects of US President Donald Trump's duties on steel and aluminum imports are still under evaluation, but it is already clear that the consequences for Europe, including Italy, will not be positive, Antonio Gozzi, president of the Italian steel producers association Federacciai, has told the Italian media. The Federacciai president said he is worried about the risk of escalation that could derive from the decisions of the US administration, adding that Trump's decision "is a serious matter and, like all unilateral measures, it is very dangerous and risks triggering commercial wars". The real risk, explained Mr. Gozzi, is the so-called "boomerang effect", with duties on American goods. Among other things, he pointed out that Trump's move is not explicable even from a political point of view, because "with 130,000 workers in the steel industry, the US has three million workers that process products coming from abroad, and they will certainly be harmed by duties". Moreover, Gozzi asked, "All the steel that will not go to the United States, where will it end up?".
The only possible solution, he said, is "a proportional EU response within the framework of WTO rules, i.e., a retaliation on other products, which is exactly what worries us. I am very pessimistic."
Mr. Gozzi continued: "In 2017, Italy exported approximately 500,000 mt of finished steel products and semi-finished products to the United States - out of a total EU export volume of 5 million mt - corresponding to a turnover of about $700 million. Therefore, we are trying to understand clearly, by looking at the product codes, which products are affected and which are not, in order to evaluate the exact repercussions on individual companies." He said that it is already clear that some companies will be very significantly impacted. Among these, Gozzi cited the Italian group Valbruna, which, he said, exports over 40,000 mt of stainless steel to the US.