Meloni is banking on the "Starmer model" on tariffs, while the League attacks the EU.

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The 30 percent tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration on imports of European products have surprised many European governments, including Italy, which had hoped for lower taxes that would lessen the impact on Italian exports. For this reason, in recent hours, the idea of a "Starmer model" has been circulating again at Palazzo Chigi, modeled on the negotiations that a few months ago allowed the British Prime Minister to lower tariffs to 10 percent on most goods, with subsequent specific negotiations postponed into the future. This is also the goal set by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, aware that 30 percent tariffs would be detrimental to Italian industry, especially the agri-food sector, which relies on the US market as one of its main international outlets . This is also why the Prime Minister welcomed the European Commission's failure (for now) to introduce counter-tariffs, as announced yesterday by President Ursula von der Leyen. As if to push through negotiations with the American side until the very end, negotiations that will continue into the coming weeks. Indeed, even European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti, interviewed by Repubblica, seemed to suggest a low profile: "If we actually reach 30 percent tariffs, obviously the negotiations will be over, but now is not the time for muscle toning," he said.

The fact is that while part of the government appears realistic about Washington's decision, another is already targeting the European Union. " The League's position remains the same: we agree with the government's statement, which considers a trade war useless and harmful." And so, it's true, "tariffs are wrong and harmful, but we need to be pragmatic and admit that Brussels' bureaucracy and constraints are equally disastrous ," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, said in an interview with Corriere della Sera . He reiterated positions that had already emerged clearly within the League. "We find ourselves in this situation because of Europe: this Union led by Ursula von der Leyen and completely dominated by Germany," League Deputy Secretary and Undersecretary of Labor Claudio Durigon told Repubblica yesterday. Senator Claudio Borghi, a member of the party's more Eurosceptic wing, also called for the Italian government to negotiate directly with the United States, bypassing the European Union, which "harms us."

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