Meloni urges 'reasoned' EU approach to Washington tariffs

ROME

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for a "reasoned" approach to an escalating tariff war between the EU and the United States, and repeated the importance of transatlantic unity.

Meloni, leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, said on March 29 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 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 Financial Times on March 28 that the U.S. was Italy's "first ally."

She also sympathised with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance's accusation that Europe had abandoned its commitment to free speech and democracy.

"I have to say I agree," she told the daily, adding: "I've been saying this for years... Europe has a bit lost itself."

In response, Elly Schlein, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, accused Meloni's government of "transforming itself day by day into the Trojan horse of the Trump administration within the EU."

Meloni has however backed plans to boost Europe's defence in the face of Washington's shift, at least in principle, while ruling out sending troops to enforce a possible peace settlement in Ukraine.