Italian Pecorino producers press to avoid US tariffs

By Guglielmo Mangiapane

MONTEROSI, Italy (Reuters) -Producers of Pecorino Romano cheese, one of Italy's best known food exports, are lobbying to be spared new U.S. tariffs that could raise consumer prices and take a chunk out of their export market.

Gianni Maoddi, president of the Consorzio di Tutela del Pecorino Romano, said the cheese has for more than 140 years been popular in the United States, which accounts for around 40% of annual exports.

The consortium is holding talks, including with the cabinet of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and the office of the United States Trade Representative, to explain Pecorino Romano's unique qualities.

"We were recognised as having special characteristics, for example, the fact that there is no production in America based on sheep's milk like ours," Maoddi said.

"So it doesn't create an imbalance in local production," he added.

The current U.S. price for Pecorino Romano ranges between $35 and $40 per kilo.

Prices will rise sharply if the current 10% tariff on goods sold into the United States from the European Union rises to 30% from the start of August, as announced by President Donald Trump last weekend.

Maoddi said the biggest risk is that industrial buyers that make up the larger portion of U.S. sales will decide Pecorino is no longer affordable.

"Being an ingredient, it's subject to cost analysis. There could be lower consumption by these industries, or even a search for alternative products. That's the more dangerous aspect of a tariff of this scale," he said.

Giuseppe Capuani, owner of "I Buonatavola," a Pecorino Romano production company, echoed the call for diplomacy and level-headed negotiation.

"In my opinion, what Europe should do and what politics and entrepreneurs do is always find a compromise," Capuani said.

($1 = 0.8630 euros)

(Additional reporting by Antonio Denti and Yesim DikmenEditing by Keith Weir and Barbara Lewis)