ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on Saturday for a “reasoned” approach to an escalating tariff war between the EU and the United States, and repeated the importance of transatlantic unity.

US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on his country’s allies and adversaries, including a 25 per cent levy on auto imports starting next week, and a 200pc tariff on champagne, wine and other alcoholic drinks from the EU.

The duties come amid tensions over defence, with Trump’s overtures to Russia over the Ukraine war sparking concern among EU leaders about Washington’s commitment to the continent’s security.

Meloni, leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, said on Saturday she felt it “my responsibility” to defend transatlantic unity, and “to rebuild it if necessary”.

“Of course there are differences on the table on tariffs, but precisely for this reason I also think that we should not act on impulse but in a reasoned way,” she told a meeting of the centrist opposition Azione (Action) party.

Just over 10 percent of Italian exports go to the United States, half of them machinery and related components.

Emanuele Orsini, head of Italian business lobby Confindustria, told the same meeting Saturday that a trade war would be a “huge problem for Italy”, saying he hoped the EU could negotiate a solution.

Meloni, whose party has a deep eurosceptic streak, told Britain’s Financial Times on Friday that the US was Italy’s “first ally”.

She also sympathised with US vice-president JD Vance’s accusation that Europe had abandoned its commitment to free speech and democracy.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2025