US to ease stiff tariffs targeting Italian pasta makers

ROME — The United States plans to roll back steep tariff rates slated for certain Italian pasta producers as an anti-dumping investigation by the US Department of Commerce winds to a close, according to Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

In early September, the US Commerce Department said preliminary findings of its probe warranted the application of a 91.74% tariff rate on 13 Italian pasta companies allegedly exporting products to the United States at prices below market value, a practice known as “dumping.” Combined with a 15% “horizontal” tariff on most imports from Europe, stemming from a US-European Union trade deal reached over the summer, the total US levy on the Italian pasta makers would be 107%.

In particular, the Commerce Department targeted the two largest Italian pasta exporters to the United States, La Molisana and Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, with the high tariff rate — calling them uncooperative with the investigation — but also aimed to apply the duty to the other 11 producers. Besides Barilla, those companies include Agritalia, Aldino, Antiche Tradizioni Di Gragnano, Gruppo Milo, Pastificio Artigiano Cav. Giuseppe Cocco, Pastificio Chiavenna, Pastificio Liguori, Pastificio Sgambaro, Pastificio Tamma and Rummo.

The US Commerce Department is slated to lower planned tariffs from about 92% to 13.98% for Garofalo, 2.26% for La Molisana and 9.09% for 11 other Italian pasta makers.

| Photo: ©HELGAQ – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

However, the Italian foreign ministry said Jan. 1 the US Commerce Department communicated overnight that it would lower the planned tariffs from 91.74% to 2.26% for La Molisana, 13.98% for Garofalo and 9.09% for the remaining 11 producers, based on the latest assessments in its probe, which is scheduled to be completed March 11. Those rates — due to go into effect after the investigation’s close, barring a potential extension — would be on top of the 15% tariff on imports from Europe and could change based on new information.

“The re-determination of the tariff levels constitutes an acknowledgment by the US authorities of the constructive cooperation shown by Italian companies,” the Italian foreign ministry said. “It also confirms the effectiveness of the support provided by the Italian foreign ministry and by the Italian government from the outset, which will continue to be ensured in view of the final determinations.”

The trade dispute goes back to 2024, when US pasta makers 8th Avenue Food & Provisions Inc. (whose pasta business is now part of Richardson US Holdings Ltd.) and Winland Foods Inc. filed complaints claiming that Italian pasta manufacturers were selling products in the United States at artificially low prices. According to published reports, US sales for the Italian pasta industry total about $770 million annually, and the 13 manufacturers cited in the Commerce Department probe represent roughly 16% of US pasta imports from Italy.