Mamma mia. Americans may still get to enjoy Italian pasta in the United States after all, now that the Trump administration has rolled back an earlier threat of high tariffs. NPR's Rome correspondent, Ruth Sherlock, reports.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: The threat by the Trump administration to hit 13 Italian pasta brands with combined duties and tariffs of some 107% became major national news in the U.S. Here's NBC's "Today"...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Americans could soon be saying arrivederci to their favorite Italian pastas.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Well, mamma mia. Thanks to Trump's tariffs, Italian pasta may disappear from grocery shelves as soon as January. Italy's biggest...
SHERLOCK: The U.S. Department of Commerce accused these companies of selling their products at a cheaper price than in their domestic market. This allegation of dumping was routine, but the sky-high duties they threatened to impose were not. It ballooned into a diplomatic affair between the U.S. and the highest levels of the Italian government.
ETTORE PRANDINI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Ettore Prandini, the president of Coldiretti, Italy's biggest agricultural union, who was involved in the talks, says Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke directly with President Trump.
SHERLOCK: Now one of the accused Italian pasta brands, La Molisana, will see the duties reduced from the threatened 97% to just 2.26%. Most of the other involved companies may pay around 9%. The Commerce Department said in an emailed statement to NPR that they had changed their position after the Italian pasta-makers addressed concerns raised in a review. Prandini sees the pasta duties as part of President Trump's broader regime of tariffs on foreign goods to favor domestic producers.
SHERLOCK: He says this was a move to penalize Italian pasta-makers and push them out of the U.S. market.
SHERLOCK: The White House has rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products in recent months, in a move widely seen as an effort to address voter discontent over high consumer prices and cost of living.
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