Italy's Meloni says to visit US for tariff talks April 17

ROME

Italy's Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday she would visit Washington next week to talk to U.S. President Donald Trump about tariffs, as the European Union seeks to avert an all-out trade war.

In comments to Italian businesses confirmed by her office, the prime minister also announced plans to repurpose up to 25 billion euros ($27 billion) of existing EU funds to help mitigate the impact of Trump's sweeping new duties.

Meloni backed EU moves to find a negotiated solution to the crisis, but said the situation required all hands on deck.

"This is the negotiation that must see us all engaged and at all levels," she said. "And that involves me, who will be in Washington on April 17 and obviously I intend to address this issue with the US president."

Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, was the only EU leader invited to Trump's inauguration in January and has sought to maintain ties with the Republican despite the disruption caused by his policies.

"The Italian government has good relations with the Trump administration and our work could be useful in convincing the Americans to reach a positive solution," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said earlier in the day.

Meloni has criticised the tariffs as "wrong", and repeated Tuesday that "a trade war between Europe and the United States does not suit anyone".

She said it was difficult to precisely assess the impact on Italy's exports, about 10 percent of which go to the US.

But she warned against "panic and alarmism" that she said "risk doing more damage than the measure itself".

She said the government would help affected firms, noting that the EU was urging member states to modify their plans to spend already allocated funds to "best invest the allocated resources in the new situation".

Italy is the main beneficiary of the EU's post-pandemic recovery plan, hoping to receive almost 200 billion euros in grants and loans in return for reforms by 2026.

Meloni said her government had identified "approximately 14 billion euros" from this plan "that can be remodelled to support employment and increase productivity".

A further 11 billion euros from the EU's so-called cohesion funds intended for development of poorer European countries could also be repurposed, she added.

The European Commission would have to agree.