The Trump administration rang in the New Year with a surprise move… Cancelling the upcoming 107 percent import tariff on Italian Pasta Products. A baker’s dozen Italian pasta makers are breathing a sigh of relief. The US is their biggest export market…
By the numbers…
“Most products from the European Union are already subject to tariffs of at least 15 percent,” CNN reports. “The pasta-specific tariffs, initially proposed in October at 92 percent, would have subjected Italian pasta to a total rate of 107 percent.”
It’s just another example of the politicization and ‘weaponization’ of he crushing tariffs imposed on imports from most other countries in the world shortly after his inauguration last year.
The punishing 107 percent tariff was announced after it was alleged that some Italian pasta makers were selling their products at artificially low prices in the US to boost market share. An investigation by the US Commerce Department (DOC) found that not to be the case. “Italian pasta makers have ad-dressed many of Commerce’s concerns raised in the preliminary determination, and [the outcome] reflects Commerce’s commitment to a fair, transparent process,” an official told reporters.
They call it ‘dumping’
The investigation – and the original hefty hike in tariffs – came after two American Pasta makers file anti-dumping complaints with the DOC naming 13 Italiain manufacturers. Two American companies, 8th Avenue Food & Provisions and Winland Foods, alleged that several Italian companies intention-ally under-priced pasta that was shipped to the United States.
The report of a preliminary investigation released by the DOC in September alleged that two Italian companies, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, sold their products in the US, “at less than normal value.” The report also noted that both companies were uncooperative during the investi-gation, and provided incomplete and unreliable data.
The DOC also noted that Molisana and Pastificio together accounted for the largest volume of foreign pasta sales to the United States.
New rates coming in March
There will still be an adjustment in US tariff rates on imported Italian pasta. It’s set to be announced March 12. At this juncture… The new rates are believed to be between 24 and 29 percent. But, as the Trump administration has proven more than once in the past – anything can happen between now and then.
My take
Just one comment… Putting a rocket under the tariffs on Italian pasta products would have caused a major uproar among US pasta consumers. And sources say domestic pasta makers don’t have the capacity to cover massive shortages with their lower-priced products, if shoppers turned to them for the staple.
~ Maggie J.