Exclusive-Italy seeks clarity from US over curbs on Pirelli due to Chinese investor

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By Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) -The Italian government is seeking clarity from the United States amid concerns that Washington could impose domestic restrictions on Pirelli due to the tyremaker’s Chinese investor, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The previously unreported involvement of Italian officials in talks with U.S. counterparts on the matter comes as the U.S. moves to limit the sale of cars using some Chinese technologies.

Pirelli’s Chinese and Italian shareholders are in a dispute over the group’s governance. China’s state-controlled Sinochem is Pirelli’s largest investor with a 37% stake, while Camfin, the vehicle of Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera, holds 27.4%.

Pirelli and Camfin have said that Sinochem’s stake poses a risk to Pirelli’s U.S. expansion ambitions.

Washington has said it plans to ban key software and hardware from Chinese-controlled companies in connected vehicles on U.S. roads. Software prohibitions take effect in the 2027 model year, those on hardware in 2029.

Asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, the sources said the Italian government was seeking clarity on whether the U.S. legislation would apply to Pirelli and, if so, to what extent.

Rome is trying to help Pirelli in talks with Washington, one of the sources added.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office and Pirelli declined to comment.

Pirelli makes over 20% of its revenue in North America, and that percentage rises to 40% for its high-value products.

Sinochem’s stake in Pirelli could end up in Washington’s crosshairs because the Italian group has developed technology allowing data from its so-called Cyber Tyres to be collected and transferred in real time to the vehicle.

Tronchetti Provera has also lobbied the Italian government to take more action to limit Chinese influence at Pirelli, Reuters reported last week, by strengthening restrictions that Rome imposed on Sinochem in 2023 through so-called golden power rules aimed at protecting strategic assets.

However, Meloni’s administration has so far rebuffed these calls.

Pirelli holds a shareholder meeting on Thursday to approve its 2024 financial report, which some Sinochem representatives on the board did not back.

Last month, the Chinese company described a proposal from Pirelli aimed at solving governance problems as “seriously unfair”, while Camfin said that Sinochem’s approach could lead to a break in the shareholder pact still in place between the two largest investors.

(Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan. Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Mark Potter)