The Consortium of Common Food Names sent President Trump a letter asking for the block of imports of European (especially Italian) cheeses.
"A similar request is unacceptable and worrying - said Giuseppe Ambrosi, president of Assolatte - and for this reason we ask the Italian and European institutions to do something as soon as possible. We ask for reassurance that the position and requests of our competitors are rejected by the US Government. If it were not so, it would be a huge blow for our sector".
In its letter, the US lobby wonders why European operators can sell Grana Padano, Gorgonzola and Parmigiano Reggiano in the US, while US cannot export parmesan from Wisconsin, grana or romano cheese to the EU.
Assolatte's answer is simple: our cheeses adhere to strict regulations in respect of the territorial origin referred to by the names of the same products; the American ones are imitations that exploit the fame of our dairy excellence.
The United States is the main non-EU outlet market for Italian cheeses - with a value of almost 300 million euros - but also one where the coexistence between original products and Italian sounding is among the hardest.
