SEGGIANO, Italy — On the steep hills of southern Tuscany, Romain Piro has spent the past two decades harvesting fruit from his silvery olive trees and turning it into olive oil.
In 2019, he convinced his sister, Marie-Charlotte Piro, to go into business with him. The siblings started shipping their small-batch bottles to the United States, where olive oil is in high demand — but where very little is made. Americans consume almost 400,000 tons of olive oil annually, more than any other country except Italy, and import some 95% of it.
“One would be crazy not to export to the U.S., because it’s an amazing market,” Romain Piro says. “And I hope it’s going to stay this way.”
At first, Olio Piro found success in the United States — racking up sales, industry awards and high-profile fans at Michelin-starred restaurants. But now, it’s looking elsewhere for growth, thanks to President Trump’s new tariffs on almost everything the United States imports, including olive oil. For months, the Piro siblings have watched Trump threaten and then retreat from potential taxes as high as 30%, before announcing a deal with the European Union last week to seemingly finalize tariffs at 15%.
Details are still being hammered out. The European Union is still hoping to negotiate some exemptions for wine and other agricultural products, and some olive oil industry members tell NPR they haven’t given up on the possibility of a reprieve. And 15% is better than the worst-case scenario — but it’s still a steep new tax for European olive oil producers, who have spent the last few years struggling with high heat and poor harvests.