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Tariff news can be hard to keep up with, but one recent development caught our attention: Italian pasta. The U.S. government has accused Italian producers of selling their products in America at \u201cartificially low prices\u201d and of failing to cooperate with an investigation led by the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to The New York Times<\/a><\/em>. The consequence? A 91.74% anti-dumping duty.<\/p>\n Anti-dumping duties are used when governments believe that companies or foreign countries are engaging in unfair trade practices. The United States has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Italian pasta producers for the past 30 years, and as a result, the government conducts routine investigations into these producers. A routine inquiry earlier this year, which the U.S. Department of Commerce said went unanswered, is the reason for the proposed 91.74% tariff.<\/p>\n However, Italian producers claim they provided the requested information, are shocked by the tariffs, and have appealed the decision. Not only will the tariffs apply to the two producers that \u201cfailed\u201d the inquiry, but they will also affect almost a dozen other companies\u2014Barilla, Rummo, Garofalo, La Molisana, Aldino, Gruppo Milo, and Pastificio Liguori, among them.<\/p>\n