The US government has slashed proposed tariffs on Italian pasta that would have almost doubled the cost of many brands for shoppers.
Donald Trump had threatened to impose tariffs as high as 92% on Italian pasta companies, after accusing 13 producers including Barilla, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo of selling their products at unfairly low prices.
Italy is estimated to be responsible for $770m-worth (approximately £570m) of annual pasta sales to the US.
On Thursday, Italy’s government said the US Department of Commerce (DoC) had reviewed the proposed tariffs and reduced them to a range of between 2% and 14%.
Any additional duties on the Italian pasta makers will come on top of the 15% tariff that Trump has placed on most goods imported from the EU into the US. However, the DoC said that it had not yet made a final decision on the level of duties that will be imposed on the pasta producers.
It said that a preliminary analysis published earlier this week showed that Italian pasta makers had “addressed many of [the DoC’s] questions”.
The final results of its analysis will be announced on 12 March, at which time a final decision on import duties will be made.
The US has said that the 13 companies it is targeting account for roughly 16% of pasta imported from Italy to the US. Coldiretti, Italy’s agribusiness association, had warned that the tariffs would be a “fatal blow” to the country’s pasta industry.
The European Commission had said it would intervene in the dispute if necessary.
Italy’s foreign ministry said the preliminary review indicated that the rate of duty imposed on La Molisana would be cut to 2.26% and the tariff on Garofalo would be set at about 14%. The remaining 11 pasta producers will face tariffs of 9.09%.
“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that US authorities recognise our companies’ constructive willingness to cooperate,” the ministry said.
The shift of position on pasta tariffs came a day after the US administration said it was delaying tariff increases on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for another year.
Import duties on kitchen cabinets and vanities had been set to rise from 25% to 50% on 1 January, while the duty on upholstered furniture was to go up from 25% to 30%.
The White House said the US continued to “engage in productive negotiations with trade partners”.
