The consortium of producers of Italy's
Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) cheese said Thursday that US
President Donald Trump's 20% tariffs on EU goods were "absurd".
"We are not in competition with local (US) cheeses at all," said
Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium President Nicola Bertinelli.
"They are different products that have different positioning (on
the market), different production standards, quality and costs.
"So it is absurd to target a niche product like Parmigiano
Reggiano to protect the American economy.
"The tariffs on our product have, therefore, gone from 15% to
35%.
"This news certainly does not make us happy, but Parmigiano
Reggiano is a premium product and the increase in price does not
automatically lead to a reduction in consumption.
"We will work to try to make people understand why it makes no
sense to apply duties to a product like ours that is not in real
competition with American parmesans.
"We will roll up our sleeves to support demand in what is our
top foreign market and which today represents 22.5% of the total
exports.
"Parmigiano Reggiano covers about 7% of the hard-cheese market
in the US and it is sold at a price more than double that of
local parmesan.
"Imposing tariffs on a product like ours only increases the
price for American consumers without truly protecting local
producers.
"It's a decision that hurts everyone".
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