The agreement on tariffs with the United States has reduced uncertainty but not alleviated concerns, with Italian exports still at risk of a significant decline. The impact on Italy is forecast to be between 6.7 and 9 billion euros, equivalent to 1.1% of the country’s total exports, though the industrial confederation Confindustria warns losses could reach as high as 23 billion euros.
This assessment was delivered by Alvise Biffi, the president of Assolombarda. “We are facing an extremely complex geopolitical scenario that demands extraordinary responses,” Biffi stated while opening the ‘Competitiveness Forum,’ which gathered businesses and institutions at the headquarters of the industrial association for the metropolitan city of Milan and the provinces of Lodi, Monza and Brianza, and Pavia.
“In the Milan area, these figures are compounded by an anticipated 1.5% downturn in the construction sector forecast for 2025,” Biffi added. “Furthermore, there is a risk that European products could be replaced in strategic markets. It is therefore vital for companies to strengthen ties with new growth areas such as India, the Persian Gulf, Australia, Canada, and Mercosur—the latter alone is a market with a pool of 720 million consumers.”
“The consequences of the tariffs imposed by the US administration and the outcomes of the recent Tianjin summit represent epochal changes,” Biffi concluded. “They call into question the strength of the West and place Europe in a position of significant weakness. If technological competition is the new geopolitics, Europe is not in the game. The only way to get back in the game is for Europe to create a plan to immediately invest massive resources in innovation and, above all, AI, which is the technology of the next century. We need a united Europe, with politics and business committed in the same direction to safeguard our competitiveness.”
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