Vinitaly in Verona. A survey of the sector conducted by Crédit Agricole and Cmr was presented: just over half of the companies surveyed have business dealings abroad
Agri-food sector fears over Trump’s tariffs
The number of companies in the sector that are confident about turnover and employment in 2017 has fallen by a quarter. “But the US would account for only 5 per cent of exports.”
Francesca Lorandi – VERONA Optimism is waning among Veneto’s agri-food companies: this is due to Brexit and, above all, the risk that the tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump might become a reality. Last year, 46 per cent of firms in the sector expressed confidence regarding turnover and employment levels at the end of 2016: today that figure has fallen to 34.9 per cent, with the belief that Italy tops the list of the most promising markets (for 73 per cent of companies) followed by the countries of the eurozone (for 111.9 per cent). North America is chosen by 8 per cent of entrepreneurs, and the Trump era is certainly having an impact. ‘Yet the US president tends to change his position by as much as 180 degrees from one day to the next,’ says Riccardo Illy, chairman of the Trieste-based group of the same name specialising in coffee production.
