Trump’s war on Parmigiano Reggiano

Spend enough time in the kitchen and you’ll learn which luxury ingredients are worth their salt. Parmigiano Reggiano is one of them. Reliable, rich and impossible to fake. You don’t need a microplane or a pasta machine to know its worth; even a humble buttered noodle is elevated by a curl of the real stuff. It’s nutty and crystalline, aged for years in northern Italy and legally protected from imitation, down to the cows’ diet and the wheels’ signature rind stamp.

That said, loving Parmigiano Reggiano doesn’t mean you have to hate American parmesan. There are very good domestic cheeses on the market (Sartori’s SarVecchio comes to mind) that offer plenty of flavor at a friendlier price point.

But they are not substitutes, not really — regardless of how much President Donald Trump would prefer you buy from Wisconsin.

During his second term, Trump enacted a sweeping series of protective tariffs targeting nearly all goods imported into the United States. From January to April 2025, the average applied U.S. tariff rate skyrocketed from 2.5% to an estimated 27% — the highest level in over a century. The aim, according to the administration, was to spur domestic production and reduce trade deficits. But for imported luxury staples like Parmigiano Reggiano, the result has been a slow, steady climb in shelf price and a growing anxiety among American importers, retailers and cheese lovers alike.

In April, Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on European imports, raising the total duty on Parmigiano Reggiano from the longstanding 15% to the current 25%. The timing was strategic — just ahead of the summer buying cycle, when demand for Italian goods tends to spike. For the Consortium that governs and protects Parmigiano Reggiano’s PDO status, this wasn’t just a trade story. It was an existential one.

So it was notable — if not a little theatrical — when the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium issued a press release in July reminding the world that, tariffs be damned, the United States remained its single largest export market. In 2024 alone, more than 16,000 tons of Parmigiano Reggiano were shipped to the U.S., a 13.4% increase over the year prior. And American retail sales? Up 9% in the first four months of 2025.

The implication was clear: Americans still want their Parm.

Behind the scenes, though, the numbers were perhaps less about appetite and more about anticipation. Starting late last year, U.S. distributors had reportedly begun quietly stockpiling inventory ahead of expected price hikes. In March 2025, when rumors of new tariffs began to swirl, sell-in volumes from producers spiked 40% practically overnight. The Consortium framed this as a sign of resilience, but a sign of a market preparing to weather an increasingly volatile relationship between politics and parmesan.

And the Consortium has not been passive. In the past year, it has pursued a flurry of unusually American moves to secure its stake in the U.S. market — some diplomatic, some culinary, some surprisingly sporty.

First came the Parmigiano Reggiano Academy, a traveling cheese seminar for trade professionals. Launched in early 2025, the program offers customized training for grocery buyers, restaurant suppliers and specialty food staff, transforming them into full-fledged “ambassadors” of Parm. So far, over 700 employees across 20 global chains have completed the program — including a growing number in the U.S. — with a goal to double that figure by the end of the year.

Then came the Jets.

In a twist that could only make sense in the current era of branded tailgates and cheese-as-lifestyle marketing, the Consortium announced a multi-year partnership with the New York Jets (yes, the NFL team) as part of its broader push to maintain brand visibility. The campaign includes Parmigiano-branded tailgates, in-stadium media tastings, social media collaborations and a presence across the Jets’ platforms and at MetLife Stadium. The goal, it seems, is to make sure American consumers still associate Parmigiano Reggiano with celebration, even if it now costs more than a bottle of prosecco.

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If the Consortium’s tailgate play reads as a little surreal, its official stance is anything but. “With the opening of our New York-based corporation in July 2024, we’ve established a constant and direct presence in the U.S.,” said Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium. “Moving forward, we must invest even more in growing international markets — starting with the U.S., which represents the future of our PDO. We are not pleased by the possibility of new tariffs, but Parmigiano Reggiano is a premium product. We will do everything in our power to prevent rising prices from significantly reducing consumption.”

Bertinelli is adamant that this isn’t about protecting European prestige — it’s about acknowledging market reality.

“Parmigiano Reggiano is not in real competition with U.S.-made parmesan,” he said. “It represents less than 8% of the hard cheese market and sells at nearly twice the price. American consumers who choose Parmigiano Reggiano are making a conscious, informed decision.” He added that increasing tariffs wouldn’t bolster domestic cheesemakers so much as penalize Americans already willing to spend a little more for something distinct. “Everyone would lose.”

His appeal is less an argument than an invitation — to keep talking, keep tasting and trust that a cheese aged for years has enough patience to outlast one or two presidencies. Whether the average shopper agrees remains to be seen. But for now, the Consortium seems determined to hold the line, wheel by wheel, tailgate by tailgate.

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