Small and medium-sized businesses in Italy are condemning the new US-EU trade agreement as a punitive and imbalanced measure that will disproportionately harm their country. Dario Costantini, president of the national confederation for these businesses (CNA), blasted the deal, calling the resulting tariff an “unfair and disproportionate tax” on Italian-made products.
Costantini argued that the economic pain will be far worse than the headline 15% tariff suggests. He pointed to forecasts of a 13.5% devaluation of the dollar against the euro, which, when combined with the tariff, creates an effective surcharge of nearly 30% on Italian goods. This double blow threatens the competitiveness of countless small businesses that rely on the US market.
The criticism from the CNA reflects a broader Italian anxiety about the deal’s consequences. As the EU’s third-largest exporter to the US, Italy is highly exposed to any new trade barriers. A recent study warned that the combination of tariffs and currency effects could wipe out €22.6 billion in Italian exports, a staggering figure that would have severe repercussions for the national economy.
While the deal offers a conditional path for lowering tariffs on cars, a key German export, Italian business leaders feel their diverse export base—from luxury goods to machinery—has been overlooked. This has led to a sense of being penalized by a deal designed to solve a problem primarily centered on the northern European auto industry, leaving Italian entrepreneurs to face the negative consequences.