Italian luxury brand Stefano Ricci would take half the hit of 10% U.S. tariffs

MILAN (Reuters) -Stefano Ricci would absorb half of the impact in the case of 10% U.S. duties on European Union imports, its CEO told Reuters, after geopolitical and trade tensions drove revenues at the Italian luxury menswear brand down 3% this year.

U.S. President Donald Trump backed away on Sunday from his threat to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the EU next month, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc to produce a deal.

"I see it as a big poker game ... if there is a 10% increase, we will absorb half, and the other half we'll pass on to the end consumer,", Niccolò Ricci told Reuters on Monday, on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2026 spring summer collection.

The family-owned brand, whose suits start at 5,000 euros, posted an increase of roughly 10% in revenues last year, to 233 millions euros. This year it expects revenues to be broadly flat, its CEO said.

Ricci said the group was not interested in going public and saw the quality of its products as a defence strategy against the challenge posed by the competition of big luxury groups.

"We focus on a super selective distribution and a niche of high-end customers", he added.

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Valentina Za)