The head of Italy's industrialists called the unilateral US duties a slap in the face of Europe.

Europe received a slap in the face from the United States by agreeing to a deal with unilateral 15% trade duties from the American side. This was announced on July 29 by the head of the Italian industrialists' association Confindustria Emanuele Orsini.

"Europe got a slap in the face. Now it must demonstrate its ability to respond, as it did after the COVID-19 pandemic, by paying compensation to affected enterprises and opening up new markets," he said in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper.

He called any scenario with duties above zero a problem for Italy. At the same time, Orsini noted that if all countries were on the same starting line with similar duties, Italian products could remain competitive even with duties of 15%.

However, he clarified that the problem would become enormous if the devaluation of the dollar against the euro, which has been 12-13% since the beginning of this year, was added to these duties.

Orsini stressed that Italian exports to the United States could decrease by almost €23 billion. According to him, mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals and the food industry will have a serious impact, but other sectors will also be under threat.

Back to the future: The US and the EU have concluded a trade deal

Russia believes that it will lead to the deindustrialization of Europe

On July 27, US President Donald Trump announced the conclusion of a trade deal with the European Union (EU). Bloomberg reported that the agreement would allow the bloc to avoid the 30% tariffs that Washington could impose. The EU, in turn, agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy resources and invest another $600 billion in the American economy.

Later, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen of an unfavorable deal with the United States for the European Union. According to him, the terms of this agreement are much worse than those stipulated in the agreement with the UK.

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