IAP 132: “What Is America Without Pasta?” Defending Italian Food with Congressman Lou Barletta

<p>&nbsp;What IS America without pasta?&nbsp; Without prosciutto?&nbsp; Or parmigiano??&nbsp; In this episode, we’ll ask those very questions when we’re joined by former Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, the new Chairman of the American Italian Food Coalition (AIFC), a consortium of over 450 Italian companies seeking to protect Italian pasta, coffee, biscuits and wafers from US’s new tariff policies.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The “Protector of Parmigiano” tells us about the coalition’s recent success in preventing the expansion of import taxes to a broad range of Italian foods. Since last year, those taxes have added 25% to the price of genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Scotch whiskey, Spanish olives and French wine as a result of retaliatory tariffs on European products in response to subsidies Airbus received from some Europe nations.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>He’ll share how the tariffs would have affected Italian American mom-and-pop businesses and how these taxes would have directly contributed to an eventual demise of Italian American culture. And, we’ll explore the continuing strength of Italy as a trade partner with the United States.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>