CETA and Italian Agri-food products: an analysis on compared advantages of the main Italian Agri-food sectors

Abstract

At the age of second-generation agreements, the European Union is going to achieve a number of new trade deals, as well as others country, first of all the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement treated with Canada. A significant part of the debating about CETA is focused on the real need or not to reach new deal and add more liberalization, in particular regarding the Agri-food goods. EU, and above all Italy, can boast a number of excellent export Agri-food processed product, such as wine, cheese and pasta; at the same time, Italy has a need of primary goods, like wheat. Revealed Competitive Advantage is an indicator of the importance of a specific product and, specifically, it’s used to identify the advantage or disadvantage of a trade flow. Some of the main Italian products exported in Canada have been analysed, just like the main imported product from Canada, the wheat; as opposed to EU-28 import of Durum wheat, the other trades have showed a comparative advantage in trade. Finally, in three cases, Italy proves greater advantages in respect with the EU.