A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Donald Trump was elected in November. American importers started stockpiling their favorite Italian wines in anticipation of possible tariffs on European goods. Prosecco, as NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports from Rome, was at the very top of the list.
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RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Prosecco is the most popular Italian wine in the United States. Fun, bubbly, light. It's used in toasts at celebrations and in cocktails. And clearly, it's something Americans are not willing to give up.
PAOLO CASTELLETTI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: U.S. imports of Prosecco skyrocketed by 41% in November after Donald Trump was elected, says Paolo Castelletti. He's the secretary general of the Union of Italian Wines Trade Association.
CASTELLETTI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: "It's a response," he says, "to the fear that Trump will impose new import tariffs on goods from the European Union." Last week, he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China. He then paused some of those tariffs, but the threat to the EU remains.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It will definitely happen with the European Union - I can tell you that - because they've really taken advantage of us.
SHERLOCK: Trump complained to reporters before boarding Air Force One recently of a trade deficit with the EU.
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TRUMP: They don't take our cars. They don't take our farm products. They take almost nothing. And we take everything from them.
SHERLOCK: Tariffs could push up the cost of European wine for American consumers, and it could be devastating for the Italian wine industry that sends about a quarter of its exports to the U.S. market. Italian wine growers are not the only ones concerned about the possible new tariff regime. The head of Italy's fashion chamber has appealed to the Italian government to do what it can to protect the country's second largest industry. Castelletti from the Union of Italian Wine says there are things the Italian government could do.
CASTELLETTI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: He asks Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to lever the privileged relationship she's cultivated with Trump to help the European Union to try to stop or limit the tariffs. Otherwise, he says, this trade war will hurt everybody.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome.
(SOUNDBITE OF RATATAT'S "CREAM ON CHROME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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