Duties and barriers self-harming - PM (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, February 20 - Imposing import duties and trade barriers would be self-harming, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday. "We are the paladins of the opening of markets and against all forms of unilateral protectionism," he said.
    "Italy would be one of the countries in the world most damaged by protectionist dynamics, since we have a trade surplus of 47 billion euros, exporting everything: asking for duties and barriers would be harming ourselves," he said.
    "But we must protect our strategic assets," he added.