Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Maria Tripodi, has attended the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) in Brussels. The items on the agenda included the reform of the World Trade Organisation, EU-US trade relations and trade support to Ukraine.
Undersecretary Tripodi took the floor to stress the primary goal of the WTO institutional reform, ahead of the 13th WTO Ministerial Council, in order to strengthen trade multilateralism. In this context, priorities include restoring a functioning system and solving controversies.
Regarding relations with the US, the Undersecretary reasserted that Italy is firmly convinced that a positive transatlantic trade agenda is extremely important for a growing trade and investment flow between the EU and the US and for attempting to finally solve the still standing trade controversies and avoid new ones. She then expressed concern for the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) launched by the US, which includes measures that may negatively affect exportation and investments: for this reason, Italy hails the institution of a joint Task Force to address European concern.
The Undersecretary then stressed Italy’s political support to the EU Commission’s intention of confirming its support to Ukraine, including in the trade sector, while pointing out the importance of solving some issues related to market access.
At the following business lunch, the Undersecretary highlighted once again the open and constructive role Italy plays in the enlargement of the EU trade agreements network with the Indo-Pacific region, Latin America and Africa and, with reference to the countries that enjoy the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), she stressed how important it is to protect the Italian and European rice sector.
