European Agriculture Facing The Risk Of Tariffs
08 November 2024, Bologna: On the third day of EIMA International, MEPs discussed the implications of the Green Deal and the election of Donald Trump for the European agricultural sector. Europe needs to be united in its negotiations with the United States and other trading partners.
The outcome of the American elections could have a decisive impact on the Italian and European economies. “A possible tariff policy and new environmental guidelines could penalize a sector such as agri-food, which currently sees Europe exporting EUR 200 billion a year”. This is what Paolo De Castro – President of Filiera Italia – said today to open the conference on European policies at hte EIMA International exhibition of agricultural machinery taking place at the Bologna Trade Fair. “Europe has embarked on the path of the Green Deal – added De Castro – and the question we must ask ourselves today is whether it will be possible to reconcile it with the objectives of the Trump administration”.
The issue of environmental policies appears to be one of the thorniest in the current political scenario – underlined the President of Confagricoltura and Copa, Massimiliano Giansanti – if it is true that the Biden administration allocated almost USD 200 billion for ecological transition, funds that the US farmers themselves preferred not to use so as not to change their production standards. Italian farmers are not against the Green Deal – observed Luigi Scordamaglia, president of Eat Europe – but they are asking that the principle of reciprocity be applied to avoid forms of unfair competition from countries with lower quality standards. The ecological theme – as was seen at the Bologna meeting – is closely linked to that of agriculture, and is an integral part of the European agricultural model, which the Union must defend. The agricultural sector has been through difficult years – said Herbert Dorfman, member of the EP Agriculture Committee – also due to the impact of the climate and meteorological factor, and denying climate change would be a serious mistake. Just as it would be wrong to radically change current directions since the agricultural policies adopted to date have in many cases been successful.
Carlo Fidanza, member of the EP Agriculture Committee, spoke on the issue of tariffs, acknowledging the importance of the issue, but underlining how the first Trump presidency applied them selectively, also on the basis of bilateral agreements between countries, and how Italy could carve out a political role for itself that would allow it to protect its interests in the agri-food sector. Dario Nardella, also a member of the EP’s Agriculture Committee, expressed concern about the tariffs, warning of the danger of a division between European countries on trade policies. If Italy thinks it can benefit from preferential treatment from the US government – added Nardella – it is making a strategic mistake because the only effective bilateralism is that between the United States and the European Union, which however must streamline its decision-making processes. In such a complex and competitive scenario, technology takes on an increasingly strategic value.
CEMA Vice President, Alessandro Malavolti, focused on this, placing emphasis on the leadership of Italian and European industry. In recent years I have seen the quality of agromechanical technologies grow impressively, further enhanced with the latest generation digital systems – said Malavolti – and the hope of European manufacturers is to be able to freely access international markets precisely by asserting the technological quality of their solutions. The risk that arises today – reiterated Stefano Bonaccini (EP Agriculture Committee) in his speech – is that the member countries implement a policy of bilateral agreements with the United States that would end up disintegrating Europe, taking away its unity and cohesion. I hope that we will all work together in the same direction – concluded Bonaccini – to defend European and Italian interests. The meeting was one of the most interesting moments that took place at EIMA involving the delegation of MEPs, also composed of Stefano Cavedagna and Pierfrancesco Maran (IMCO Commission, Internal Market), Salvatore De Meo (AGRI Commission, Agriculture), Elisabetta Gualmini and Mariateresa Vivaldini (ITRE Commission, Industry), who then visited the crowded pavilions of the Exhibition, stopping in the open area where it was possible for the MEPs to view and even drive some of the finalist tractor models from the Tractor of the Year contest.
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