Meloni: EU should form a free trade zone with the US, tariffs are a mistake

(Patria) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believes that the EU should form a free trade zone with the US to overcome the trade dispute between Brussels and Washington, while characterizing the introduction of tariffs as a mistake.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Meloni emphasized that the EU should go in the "completely opposite direction" from introducing tariffs and work towards liberalizing trade with the US.

- I believe that tariffs between Europe and the US are a mistake. We should move towards a free trade zone - Meloni assessed.

Trade relations on both sides of the Atlantic have become further complicated after the US Supreme Court last week overturned part of President Donald Trump's authority to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs.

In response, the US administration introduced a global additional tariff of 10 percent on already existing tariff rates. This means that exports from the EU to the US, worth around 4.2 billion euros, will be burdened with tariffs higher than the previously agreed limit of 15 percent.

Italian products are among those particularly affected, given that the United States is Italy's second-largest export market.

Meloni says that Italy played an active role in reaching a trade agreement between the EU and the US last summer, but also warned that current tariff measures threaten the stability of that agreement.

Negotiations on establishing a free trade zone between the EU and the US were rejected back in 2016, after strong political resistance in some member states, especially due to disagreements over the treatment of agricultural products.

Since then, both sides have tried to improve cooperation through the Trade and Technology Council, but this framework has not led to significant concrete results.