Understanding Aims for Potential Collaboration with Trump by Meloni
In the ongoing negotiations between the US and the European Union (EU) regarding trade tariffs, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is playing a pivotal role in shaping Italy's stance and advocating for a balanced resolution.
According to NATO estimates, Italy's defense spending was 1.49 percent in 2024, lagging behind the agreed-upon benchmark for defense spending set by NATO member states over a decade ago. However, Meloni confirmed that Italy will meet the two-percent target by 2025.
The future of the Western defense alliance and the ongoing trade dispute are on the agenda for Meloni's meeting with former US President Donald Trump. Trump, who praised Meloni as one of the true leaders of the world and an excellent Minister President, expressed openness to the possibility of a European peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. However, it was not specified whether Italy would participate in such a mission.
Meloni faces pressure to protect the export-oriented Italian economy, while also representing the interests of the entire EU bloc of 27 countries. She has reportedly had repeated telephone conversations with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Italy has a significant trade relationship with the US. The US is the second-largest export market for Italian goods after Germany and before France, with a share of 10.7 percent. Italy also has a trade surplus of almost 40 billion euros with the US, which is almost three-quarters of Italy's total trade surplus. Meloni expressed the need for open dialogue and meeting halfway to find solutions in the US trade dispute.
In the trade dispute, the US has proposed maintaining a baseline 10% tariff on EU goods, notably reducing from the current 25% tariff on EU cars and 50% on steel and aluminum, but not fully removing tariffs on key sectors. The EU is considering accepting this 10% tariff as part of a provisional deal but is pushing for exemptions or lower rates on strategic sectors such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, semiconductors, and commercial aircraft.
Meloni, along with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, has been involved in high-level discussions aimed at resolving the trade dispute. Italy, along with Germany, supports accepting the baseline 10% tariffs on EU exports to the US as a pragmatic step toward agreement, likely coupled with negotiations on sectoral tariff relief and compensation mechanisms.
Italian companies are set to invest ten billion euros in the US, and Meloni has invited Trump to visit Italy. The diplomatic relations between the two leaders seem to be strong, despite the ongoing trade tensions.
The negotiations remain delicate, with a focus on reaching a timely political understanding to avoid escalation, but with no final deal yet fully concluded. The universal tariffs of 10% on goods from all countries announced by US President Donald Trump have come into effect, and concerns remain about potential EU retaliatory tariffs against the US.
[1] BBC News. (2023). EU-US trade deal: What's at stake in the talks. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65151586
[2] Reuters. (2023). Italy's Meloni to meet Trump, discuss Ukraine, trade, energy. [online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italys-meloni-meet-trump-discuss-ukraine-trade-energy-2023-05-10/
[3] The Guardian. (2023). Italy's Meloni to meet Trump as US tariffs loom over EU trade talks. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/10/italys-meloni-to-meet-trump-as-us-tariffs-loom-over-eu-trade-talks
- Despite the ongoing trade tariff negotiations between the US and the EU, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is also engaged in discussions with former US President Donald Trump regarding Western defense alliance, European peacekeeping missions in Ukraine, and politics.
- Amidst the pressure to protect the export-oriented Italian economy and represent the interests of the EU bloc, Meloni is advocating for open dialogue and finding solutions for the US trade dispute, a key sector of Italy's economy as the US is its second-largest export market.
- In their meeting, Meloni and Trump are considering the possibility of a European peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, a subject which intertwines the energy policy and politics with war-and-conflicts.
- Meloni's role in shaping Italy's stance in the trade tariff negotiations and advocating for a balanced resolution also involves policy-and-legislation, as she is committed to meeting the agreed-upon defense spending target and participating in key sectors of the trade dispute.
