As if all the employment woes that, in Italy and other locations around the world, are mowing down Electrolux's production of home appliances were not enough, here now the case becomes a political querelle with the United States pitted against China on the battleground that includes Italy. For the past few days, in fact, the spotlights of the U.S. administration have been on Electrolux. The future of the multinational appliance company, in fact, has raised fears across the ocean.

The fears are due to the possibility that the Swedish group, with important factories in Susegana and Porcia in the Pordenone area, could be sold to the Chinese of Midea who, in this way, would enter a fundamental supply chain of our manufacturing in a preponderant way.

Raising the concerns of the U.S. administration to the Italian government was, as reported by Il Foglio, Shawn Crowley, Acting chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Italy, in practice, the replacement for the ambassador who has not yet been appointed. In addition to Electrolux, the other dossiers being considered are Intel, Ita, Priolo and Tim. For all of them, the Americans' suspicion remains the same, namely that Italy wants to penalize American investments in favor of Chinese ones.

"The American solicitation should not come as a surprise -Maurizio Castro, scientific director of the Cuoa Master's program with a long history as an executive right at Electrolux and a connoisseur of the Chinese world of home appliances, explains to Northeast Economics-. Although it may not seem like it, the home appliance sector holds great strategic importance for two orders of reasons. The first from a technological point of view, since with home automation we will move more and more toward processes of pushed digitization that will also involve the management of extremely sensitive data. But we must not forget that these are also products that are of great importance to families and businesses. A possible management by a Chinese company of the entire supply chain, with possible problems on supplies, could create major damage to the social fabric of the country". 

According to the expert, American concerns should be read as an invitation to the Italian government to develop an industrial policy on home appliances. "It is necessary to create -Castro adds- a holding company with public traction, at least in an initial phase, that will guide the process of integration and development among the smaller Italian producers, also incorporating sites weakened by restructuring and reconstituting an adequate garrison of components, and create an alliance with producers in the contiguous professional sector. Let us not forget that, as recently as 1995, 45 percent of household appliances were produced in Italy: just to say that we are talking about constituent elements of the Italian industrial identity itself".