Trump tariff threats hang over Italian fashion industry as a luxury slowdown hits

MILAN (AP) - The head of Italy’s fashion chamber said he has appealed to its government to protect the country’s second-largest industry from possible tariffs from the Trump administration.

"We hope they don't arrive,'' Italian National Fashion Chamber President Carlo Capasa said Wednesday during the presentation of the calendar for the next Milan Fashion Week later this month. "If Trump penalizes the second industry in Italy, it is a pretty hostile declaration."

Fashion generates 5% of Italy’s GDP, or 75 billion euros ($78 billion), through the production and sale of textiles, apparel and footwear, and with 1.2 million employees, according to a study by the state development bank CDP released in December.

The threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump is creating uncertainty in the industry as it experiences a global contraction that shrank global sales in 2024 by 5%, dropping to 96 billion euros from 110 billion euros in 2023, according to figures released by the fashion chamber. Beyond textiles, apparel and footwear, the figures also include jewelry, eyewear and leather goods.

While Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on European imports to the United States, he has not made clear plans.

Italy exported 4.6 billion euros worth of luxury fashion to the United States during the first 10 months of last year, including apparel, footwear, leather goods, jewelry and eyewear. It is the third market following France and Germany, with 7.6 billion euros and 4.7 billion euros in sales of Italian luxury fashion, respectively, during the same period.

Exports in the same period were up 2.5% to 91 billion euros, according to the fashion chamber data.

Despite the drop in global sales, the industry is still topping the results before the COVID-19 pandemic, with sales of 90 billion euros in 2019.