ROME, March 23 (Reuters) – Italy was the only major European Union economy to record a significant increase in exports to the United States in 2025 despite the tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump, official statistics showed on Monday.
Italian goods exports to the U.S. rose 7.2% year-on-year, while Germany and Spain’s exports fell by more than 9% and French ones dipped by 0.9%, Italian statistics agency ISTAT said in a report on industry competitiveness.
The agency noted that Italy’s international trade remained resilient, with a surplus of 50.7 billion euros ($58.48 billion) in 2025, as goods exports grew by 3.3% and imports by 3.1%.
It however said that Italy’s exposure to non-EU markets, including the U.S., was higher compared to other major EU economies, in a likely source of vulnerability as the global trade environment becomes increasingly unstable.
The value of Italian imports from China jumped 16.4% in 2025 to a record 60.6 billion euros, pushing China’s share of total Italian imports to 10.3%, higher than that recorded by Germany, France or Spain, ISTAT said.
The value of Chinese-sourced productive inputs for Italian manufacturing has risen 60% since 2017. Imports of Chinese pharmaceuticals alone rose by 934% last year to over 7.7 billion euros.
Italy’s strategically-important imports, such as energy products, account for around 20% of the total and are exposed to geopolitical risks, ISTAT said.
Without explicitly naming the countries in question, the Rome-based agency noted that 60% of Italy’s strategic imports come directly from countries with “medium” or “high” political risk levels.
($1 = 0.8670 euros)
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, editing by Alvise Armellini)
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