Support for European agri-food businesses

11.10.2019

Question for written answer E-003246-19
to the Commission
Rule 138
Nicola Procaccini (ECR) , Carlo Fidanza (ECR) , Raffaele Fitto (ECR) , Pietro Fiocchi (ECR) , Raffaele Stancanelli (ECR)

Following the recent imposition by the US of new tariffs on European imports, an imbalance has been created in the agri-food market.

Those tariffs — now approved by the WTO — were introduced as retaliation for EU aid given to Airbus and have started a trade war between the US and the EU, and the agri-food sector is set to be caught in the crossfire.

Not every Member State is part of the Airbus Consortium, but every Member State will pay the price for the tariffs. In Italy, for example, the agri-food sector is worth in excess of EUR 140 billion, as the sector’s main national associations have stressed.

Taking into account the view that the European agri-food market, particularly the Italian market, will be damaged:

• 1.What economic measures will the Commission take to offset the inevitable losses that agri-food businesses will suffer as a result of those tariffs?
• 2.What strategy does it plan to adopt with regard to the US to prevent later price rises that would harm the European agri-food sector?