Duties, Tajani: ‘Avoid reacting with chain reactions, negotiate to halve them’

Milan, Apr 4 (LaPresse) – ‘Don't panic. The duties were a mistake, but the Italians must know that the government has been working on this issue for some time, we are not unprepared or taken by surprise, the executive has been moving for months on various lines: with Europe to agree on responses that do not trigger chain retaliation but lead to negotiations with the U.S., with an action plan to open new markets, with the possibility of specific bilateral agreements. Thus the deputy prime minister, foreign minister and secretary of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, in an interview with ‘Corriere della Sera’. What is the realistic objective of a possible negotiation? ‘In the short term a possible objective would be to halve the announced duties: from 20% to 10%, like those imposed on Great Britain's goods. There is work to be done, but Trade Commissioner Sefkovic is the best person to do it,' he added.