Key Points
- The U.S. Commerce Department is significantly reducing proposed tariffs on Italian pasta.
- The initial 92% tariff will be lowered to between 24% and 29%.
- The investigation was launched after two U.S. companies accused Italian makers of “dumping.”
- The Commerce Department said the Italian companies have been more cooperative since the initial report.
The U.S. Commerce Department is backing away from a plan to impose massive tariffs on Italian pasta makers. The department announced on Wednesday that it will significantly reduce the proposed tax rate, which was initially set at 92%. Instead of a total tariff rate of 107%, the new levies will be much lower, somewhere between 24% and 29%.
This began last July, when two American food companies, 8th Avenue Food & Provisions and Winland Foods, filed a complaint. They accused 13 Italian pasta makers of “dumping”—selling their pasta in the U.S. at unfairly low prices to drive American companies out of business. The Commerce Department launched an investigation and, in a preliminary report in September, sided with the American companies.
The initial report singled out two major Italian brands, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, as “uncooperative” and “unreliable” in providing data. However, it seems the Italian companies have since changed their tune.
A Commerce official told that the decision to lower the tariffs followed an “evaluation of additional comments” and that the Italian manufacturers had “addressed many of Commerce’s concerns.”
The Italian government praised the decision, saying it signaled that U.S. authorities recognized its companies’ “willingness to cooperate.” The final rates will be officially announced on March 12.
While a 24% to 29% tariff is still a significant tax, it’s a huge relief for the Italian pasta industry, which was facing a crippling blow to its U.S. sales. It’s also good news for American consumers, who will be spared the massive price hikes that the original tariffs would have caused.
