MILAN (Reuters) – Pirelli is not planning investments in the United States at the moment, the tyre maker said on Friday, contradicting a report in an Italian newspaper.
The Corriere della Sera said on Friday that Paolo Zampolli, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, hoped that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would announce an investment by Pirelli during her visit to the White House on April 17.
He added that Pirelli would invest $1 billion in the U.S. state of Georgia to produce so-called smart tyres, potentially raising it to $2 billion in the future.
“At the moment nothing has been decided given the regulatory obstacles linked to questions of governance and shareholder structure,” Pirelli said in a statement.
Pirelli executive vice chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera said this week that the company was having difficulties investing in the U.S. because its largest shareholder is China’s state-owned Sinochem.
Pirelli’s Chinese and Italian shareholders are at odds over the group’s governance as Washington cracks down on Chinese technology in the automotive industry, banning key software and hardware from Chinese-controlled companies.
Trump has introduced a 25% tariff on auto imports, arguing this will encourage foreign carmakers and their suppliers to invest in the U.S. to avoid paying duties.
(Reporting by Alessia Pé. Editing by Giulia Segreti and Mark Potter)
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