Trump’s tariffs raise costs for stores and restaurants that import Italian pasta

Amna Nawaz:

Yesterday, Italian cuisine gained a new honor, becoming the first gastronomic style to be recognized as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural body.

But, as Deema Zein, American cooks face a new potential tariff that may double the cost of an essential part of that cuisine, pasta from Italy.

Deema Zein:

For Diana Calcagno, pasta is part of her family's history. She manages Vace, an Italian grocer and deli in Washington, D.C., and nearby Bethesda, Maryland, which her parents founded almost 50 years ago.

Diana Calcagno, Manager, Vace:

It's a lot of connection with our customers. It's generation after generation, so their fathers, and then they brought their children, and then now they bring their children for pasta and pizza night.

Deema Zein:

But one of the store's staples, pasta from Italy, may soon be under threat.

Diana Calcagno:

In spaghetti, bucatini. Then I also ordered orecchiette.

Deema Zein:

Forcing her to stock up on what she can.

Diana Calcagno:

Some customers have asked us, oh, are you going to still be carrying some pastas? And we just kind of started snowballing and writing down a bunch of things and trying to figure out how we were going to handle it.

Deema Zein:

Vace is one of many businesses across the country making preparations after a recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

As early as January, pasta from 13 major Italian producers will face a 92 percent tariff on top of the existing 15 percent tariff on all goods from Europe. That's nearly 107 percent in all.

Diana Calcagno:

It's giving me goose bumps thinking about that right now. Like, when I found out that — that amount, it really did hit a little bit, because I was just like, man, it was uncertain being — not knowing if people were willing to pay it and. We're still uncertain.

Deema Zein:

For customers, the news was pasta-tively frustrating after years of rising food prices.

Woman:

I don't know, it just doesn't seem very fair.

Man:

Not to be able to buy pasta is really terrible, because pasta is a very primary food that everybody should access.

Chiara Donegani, Aston University:

Pasta is not a strategic product. Pasta is a basic product. It's the iconic symbol of the Mediterranean diet.

Deema Zein:

Chiara Donegani is a researcher and professor at Aston University in the U.K. She co-authored an article about what she dubs "The Great Pasta War."

While the U.S. government alleges that the coming tariffs are in response to Italian pasta makers dumping their product at unfair prices in the American market, Donegani has not found evidence of that in the data.

Chiara Donegani:

The Italian pasta sold to the U.S., it is usually priced higher, not lower. And the second indicator is the market share, and Italian companies' market share are broadly stable over that period, with no sign of predatory pricing to squeeze out competitors.

Deema Zein:

For Italian pasta makers, the tariff could be a fatal blow, especially for small and medium size producers.

Margherita Mastromauro is president of the pasta makers sector of Unione Italiana Food, a trade group.

Margherita Mastromauro, Unione Italiana Food (through interpreter):

The United states imports approximately 300,000 tons of Italian pasta, worth around $700 million. The duty would essentially mean a halt to imports of this pasta into the American market, because, obviously, it would mean that the price of pasta would more than double, making it completely unprofitable and uncompetitive.

Deema Zein:

Academic Donegani, who is originally from Italy, sees the tariffs as not about economic fairness.

Chiara Donegani:

It exerts political pressure and basically it signals that no sector is safe.

Deema Zein:

The tariffs are preliminary and will be finalized by the 2nd of January. While pasta from Italy only makes up about 12 percent of the U.S. market, some grocers here are already seeing the impacts.

Max Evans, Owner, A. Litteri:

Saturday was the first day ever that reminded me of the pandemic. It was the same thing where I just — I looked at the shelves halfway through the day and I could not believe how much we had sold of just pasta.

Deema Zein:

Max Evans owns A. Litteri, a small Italian grocer in Northeast Washington, D.C., he's ordering more supply to keep up with customer demand and he says not all pasta is created equal.

Max Evans:

Italian pasta, it's like Italian wine. It's specific to the region where it's produced. There's such a vast array. I mean, I don't think you're going to find that from American producers in the kind of numbers and availability.

Deema Zein:

Ultimately, it's his customers that will have to fork out to keep Italian pasta on their plates.

Man:

Italian pasta, particularly Italian pasta here, is the best in the city. And the fact that it's getting tariffed that much, A, is going to disincentivize people from coming. But then, B, it's just like, why are we doing nonsense? Like, so it's just ridiculous.

Deema Zein:

Back in Maryland, Diana Calcagno says, even though the tariffs haven't kicked in yet, her suppliers are already raising prices, which she worries will keep customers away.

Diana Calcagno:

People are not splurging as much on, let's say, a $25 bottle of wine. Instead, they will focus on just the main meal. I have had some customers complain about pricing already. And I'm a little scared of what it's going to be like when the other stuff starts going up.

Deema Zein:

For now, she's hoping that there may still be a reprieve in the coming tariffs.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Deema Zein.