Italian pasta giant Rummo pleads with US to reverse ‘absurd’ 107%

Italian pasta giant Rummo pleads with US to reverse ‘absurd’ 107%

One of the 13 Italian pasta corporations going through whopping 107% tariffs come January is pleading with the Trump administration to axe its plans – which might pressure the enterprise to double its costs.

An government with the American department of Italian pasta giant Rummo told The Post it might only last a month or two without mountaineering costs – from $3.99 to as high as $7.99 – particularly since affected corporations shall be compelled to pay retroactive tariffs overlaying the past two years.

“We’re going to try to absorb it,” Jim Donnelly, chief business officer for Rummo USA, said Tuesday. “We’re going to try to hang in there as long as we possibly can.”

An Italian pasta giant is pleading with the Trump administration to axe its plan to slap exporters with a 107% whole tariff. Getty Images for NYCWFF

“I think if anybody in their right mind would examine it and see, they would say you can’t charge Rummo this,” he added. “I think it’s a big mistake.”

The Commerce Department has vowed to impose a punishing 92% antidumping tax on 13 major Italian pasta exporters in January, on top of a 15% tariff on European Union items.

Italian pasta manufacturers have warned the duties might pressure them to pull their merchandise from American grocery retailer cabinets.

The punitive tax comes after the Department of Commerce requested data from two best-selling manufacturers, Pasta Garofalo and La Molisana, as a part of an investigation into “antidumping” allegations.

Italian pasta exporters are repeatedly accused of “dumping,” or flooding the US market with low-priced pasta to acquire a bonus over local companies.

The feds accused the 13 overseas companies of being “uncooperative” – allegedly sending over paperwork with untranslated Italian phrases – and utilized the steep tariff to all the corporations in the cohort, which generally face a lot decrease antidumping taxes.

“Here are the facts: these Italian pasta makers screwed up a simple data request for a routine review of an anti-dumping probe that has been ongoing since 1996,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Post in an announcement.

He said the corporations have a number of months to take part in the review and alter the Commerce Department’s “preliminary” 92% charge.

The Trump administration is planning to slap 13 major Italian pasta exporters with a 92% antidumping tax in January. AP

“Simply complying with the Commerce Department’s routine probe would be an infinitely better use of these Italian pasta makers’ time than spreading fake news that only underscores their incompetence,” he said.

Rummo didn’t even get an opportunity to submit its personal paperwork for the review, according to Donnelly.

“That’s the crazy thing. I actually found out from a [news] report online,” said the exec, who famous Rummo US employs Americans at its New Jersey warehouse.

“I started getting a bunch of phone calls … and saw the judgement online.”

The new levies would hit about half of Italy’s $780 million in pasta exports to the US, including more than 90% of its more costly choices, according to Luigi Scordamaglia, CEO of Italian meals commerce group Filiera Italia. 

Donnelly believes the 92% tariff – a lot greater than typical antidumping duties of 15% or so – is a mistake.

“Honestly, we just feel that maybe it’s February or a little bit after that, that somebody will probably see this and say, ‘Okay, this was a mistake,’” he told The Post.

Rummo said the tariffs might pressure it to hike costs from $3.99 to as high as $7.99. Getty Images for NYCWFF

“Our goal is to sell the best pasta in the world, not hurt people’s pockets.”

Antidumping tariffs sometimes penalize corporations that promote their merchandise in the US at a lot decrease costs than they do in Italy – successfully promoting them below manufacturing prices.

But Donnelly claimed Rummo sells its American pasta for 3 times as a lot as its merchandise in Italy.

“We shouldn’t be paying any antidumping,” he told The Post. “It’s the complete opposite, we should be commended.” 

There are also some issues the new levies might hurt American farmers, since the US is a major exporter of durum wheat – a key ingredient in premium pasta merchandise.

About 155,124 tons – or 36% of its whole durum wheat exports – went to Italy alone in 2021, according to World Integrated Trade Solution. That’s price roughly $50 million, the website acknowledged.

Most Italian pasta makers use durum wheat grown in Italy for his or her merchandise, Donnelly said.

The overwhelming majority of Rummo’s durum wheat comes from Italy. It also buys a small quantity from Arizona and Australia.

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