“We welcome the decision of the U.S. government not to apply duties to Italian food companies exporting pasta, biscuits and coffee – says Riccardo Felicetti, vice president of Unione Italiana Food and president of Italian pasta makers -. However, we cannot lower our guard: the U.S. will probably review the blacklist after the imposition of duties by the EU, and a further review is expected for next August.”
The United States is indeed a strategic market for Italian pasta. On the one hand it is the top non-European market in terms of volume for Italy’s exports (the fourth in absolute terms). Moreover, the first 10 months of 2019 were characterized by an exports growth of 18.8% in value, equal to almost 250 million euros.
THE PULL FACTOR OF ITALY’S PASTA EXPORTS
Pasta exports are also a driver for other iconic Made in Italy food products such as olive oil, cheese, and tomato preserves. Practically everything useful for a meal that can be included in the Mediterranean Diet, considering that one in three adults (about 100 million people) in the USA is obese or overweight.
Pasta imports in the USA (in value, $mio)
| Exporting Country | Sep-18 | Sep-19 | Market Share 2017 | MS-18 | MS-Sep 19 |
| World | 675.13 | 692.77 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Italy | 239.54 | 270.23 | 34.4 | 36 | 39 |
| Canada | 97.87 | 83.73 | 15.4 | 13.8 | 12.1 |
| China | 85.77 | 70.97 | 13 | 13 | 10.2 |
“Exports data in 2019 – Felicetti says – confirm that the Americans consider Italian pasta as an excellent and high-quality food product, which probably would not have been affected by duties whatever. However, the good news of these days should not make us forget that for more than 25 years the United States has been imposing duties of around 18% on Italy’s pasta.”