Italian writer Roberto Saviano believes that “Trump’s customs definitions represent a gift for the mafia,” as criminal organizations will benefit around the world with the prosperity of smuggling that represents a life artery.
The writer, who is the author of “Gomura” and “Zero Zero Zero” about the Italian mafia, and has lived for more than 20 years under the protection of the police because of the threats he received from the Napoli mafia, that the leaders of criminal organizations realize that every economic decision leads to high prices opens a prosperous market for smuggling.
The war of tariffs launched by US President Donald Trump during the last period would push many to switch towards smuggling, which will represent a great opportunity for the mafia, he said.
The writer adds – in a report published by the British newspaper “Financial Times” – that the Mexican Cartitals, Italian criminal organizations, the Russian mafia, and other organizations capable of smuggling illegal materials to the United States will now be able to smuggle legal materials, and thus the huge new market is the appearance, and the organized crime is ready to benefit from it.
Previous examples
Examples in American history – according to the writer – the ban law in 1807, when President Thomas Jefferson imposed a complete ban on foreign trade to pressure Britain and France, and this led to a huge increase in smuggling, especially in the border areas such as Fairmont and Min.
When the Smot-Hawli tariff law in 1930 increased customs definitions on more than 20,000 imported products, Italian-American mafia organizations began working as mediators, as many small traders resorted to illegal roads to maintain profit margins.
In 2024, an American company approved its involvement in smuggling porcelain tiles from China and forging origin as “made in Malaysia” to avoid anti -dumping and compensatory fees.
Before Trump’s definitions, the smuggling market was almost completely revolving around Asia’s counterfeit products, as the US Customs and Protection Authority data showed that counterfeit goods worth $ 2.8 billion in 2023 and $ 5.4 billion in 2024 were confiscated.
The writer believes that one of the solutions to reduce the smuggling of goods is to tighten control in the ports, but that means slowing customs transactions.
He explained that criminal organizations choose the appropriate ports for smuggling not according to the level of corruption, but rather according to the speed, the faster the port, the more goods that can be inserted without controls.
New balance
The writer continues, asking: Does Trump really realize that customs tariffs will be a golden opportunity for smugglers?
According to his opinion, the matter may not be disturbed by the American president because he realizes that American companies need to obtain goods at pre -definition prices in order to remain able to compete, and he can provide him with smuggling a reason to continue political pressure on foreign governments.
The writer confirms that it is not strange because Trump’s guide, American lawyer Roy Kon, represented in the seventies mafia leaders such as Carmin Gallent, Carlo Gambino and Nicholas Ratini, and provided advice to the criminal family of Ginoviz.
The writer believes that smuggling in such circumstances will not be a strategy for obtaining cheap or counterfeit products, but rather a necessary way to stay in competition.
He concludes that criminal organizations realize that the more the market demand for smuggled goods, the more difficult to fight it, which means in the end reaching a balance in which smuggling in America becomes acceptable again.
