 "Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. File image/ Reuters")
French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci on Wednesday warned that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s upcoming visit to meet US President Donald Trump could jeopardise European unity in opposing American tariffs.
“We need to be united because Europe is strong if it’s united,” Politico quoted Ferracci as saying to broadcaster FranceInfo.
“If we start having bilateral talks, of course it’ll break this momentum (on European unity),” Ferracci added.
Right-wing leader Meloni aims to be a bridge between Europe and the Trump administration, meeting the US president at the White House on April 17.
However, Ferracci warned that this visit could play into Trump’s strategy, which seeks to weaken a unified European response to his significant tariffs — 20% on EU goods — that threaten to escalate into a trade war.
The European Commission is considering imposing up to 25% tariffs on a wide range of US exports.
According to Politico, in a separate interview, Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad emphasised that Europe’s strength lies in its unity in addressing Meloni’s visit.
“If you go to the United States scattered and divided, do you think you’re stronger than if you go all 27, with 450 million people?” the French minister asked.
“We’ll see what (Meloni) has to say,” Haddad added about the Italian leader’s trip.
“There can be discussions … However, it’s in our collective interest to have a united and firm response rather than divisions.”
Haddad also called on the Commission to activate the bloc’s trade “bazooka”— the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) — which would allow the EU to target US service sectors, including technology and banking.
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“Let’s put them on the table … We’ll see what the Commission’s proposals are,” Haddad added.
Meloni will meet Trump in Washington on April 17 to discuss the tariffs that he has slapped on European Union imports, her office said on Tuesday.
The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars, and broader tariffs of 20% starting Wednesday for almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to US imports.
A nationalist with deep admiration for Trump, Meloni is battling to reconcile the growing gulf between her ideological instincts, which lie with Washington, and Italy’s strategic ties to the European Union, according to Reuters, citing analysts.
She is under pressure also to defend Italy’s export-driven industry, which last year ran a 40-billion-euro ($43.75-billion)trade surplus with the United States - the third-largest in the European Union after Germany and Ireland.
Italy’s exports to the US are worth 10% of total exports.
With inputs from agencies