Trade data released Tuesday revealed that Italian goods sold to the United States climbed by more than 7% throughout 2025, contradicting expectations that President Donald Trump’s tariff policies would severely damage transatlantic commerce.
The European Union’s third-largest economy saw its American exports reach 69.6 billion euros ($82.41 billion) last year, representing a 7.2% increase compared to 2024, according to Italy’s national statistics bureau ISTAT.
This growth occurred even as Italian products face a 15% tariff that Trump implemented on most EU merchandise, with pasta manufacturers confronting potential additional penalties under a U.S. Commerce Department anti-dumping investigation.
Italy maintained its biggest trade surplus with the United States at 34.2 billion euros, though this figure dropped 12% from the previous year due to a 36% surge in Italian purchases of American goods.
The country also achieved substantial trade surpluses exceeding 19 billion euros each with both Switzerland and the United Kingdom during 2025.
Trump announced the 15% tariff in a July 27 agreement with the EU following lengthy negotiations that included threats of even steeper duties, creating financial market uncertainty and concern among European exporters.
Italian business lobby leader Emanuele Orsini had cautioned in July that even a 10% tariff on EU merchandise could slash Italian exports to America by 20 billion euros in 2026 while eliminating 118,000 jobs.
December’s Italian exports to the US totaled 5.6 billion euros, showing a slight 0.4% decline from December 2024, ISTAT reported.
Italian sales to America have generally continued growing since the tariffs became effective in August, though monthly figures have shown fluctuation.
Italy recorded a worldwide trade surplus of 6.0 billion euros ($7.15 billion) in December, exceeding the 5.1 billion euro surplus from December 2024, according to ISTAT.
For the entire year 2025, Italy achieved a global trade surplus of 50.7 billion euros, up from 48.3 billion euros in the prior year.
