Born in the USA: Italy’s curious bresaola pitch to dodge US tariffs 

Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has backed a plan to make Italian bresaola using US beef and ship it back to America – a proposal that grabbed headlines but appears to breach EU trade rules. 

At the heart of the story is the bresaola, a prized Italian cured meat made from salted, air-dried beef, which holds Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. 

Around 90% of the beef currently used in the production of this famous Italian specialty comes from South America – primarily zebu cattle from Brazil and Uruguay – chosen for their quality and reliable supply. 

In the broader context of ongoing trade tensions, EU farmers' opposition to the Mercosur agreement, and US pressure on the EU to reduce its trade surplus, Lollobrigida floated an idea that quickly went viral. 

“If the US gives us beef to make bresaola, we can then re-export it. That’s a binding agreement which allows us to import more meat from the US,” he said earlier this week.

The suggestion drew a mix of confusion and ridicule, prompting Lollobrigida to later clarify  that the proposal did not originate from him personally, but was shared with him by industry stakeholders. 

"I’m just relaying it," he told Italian media. 

Against EU rules

But there’s a catch. Legal experts warn that such a move may be incompatible with EU law. 

Mariagrazia Alabrese, professor of agri-food law at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, told Euractiv that Italy cannot unilaterally enter into such an agreement with the United States.  

Under the EU Treaties, she explained, trade policy is an exclusive competence of the European Union. "If all 27 EU member states started striking individual deals, the idea of a single market would collapse," she said.  

Under current trade agreements, she added, only meat from approved countries and facilities complying with EU restrictions – for example, on hormones and treatments like chlorine washes – can be used in food production within the bloc, even if the product is exclusively for export.

“The EU simply cannot import that kind of US beef,” she concluded, arguing that a bilateral EU-US agreement would still have to comply with all existing EU food safety laws.

However, for Davide Calderone, director of the Italian meat processing association ASSICA, Lollobrigida's suggestion is nothing new– and is feasible.

"If we import the meat under a re-export condition, a dedicated procedure would need to be established – approved at EU level – to ensure that none of it enters the internal market,” he said. 

He called the use of American beef an "opening" at a time of complex negotiation on tariffs.

"It might also benefit US producers by giving them access to the Italian market", he concluded. 

(cs, adm, aw)