Italy bucks EU trend with 7.2% US export surge in 2025

ROME, March 23 (Reuters) - Italy ‌was the only ​major ​EU economy to record a significant increase in exports to the U.S. in 2025, despite the tariffs introduced by President ‌Donald Trump, official statistics show.

Italian goods exports to the United ⁠States rose 7.2% year-on-year, while German and Spanish exports both fell by more than 9% ‌and French by 0.9%, Italian ‌statistics agency ISTAT said in a report on industry competitiveness on Monday.

The Italian performance was partly fuelled by front‑loading to avoid U.S. tariffs ​that kicked in on August 1, with a 9.6% year‑on‑year increase between January and July, ISTAT said.

It was led by multinational companies ⁠and the transport equipment sector, excluding motor vehicles, and pharmaceuticals, with respective increases of 59.5% and 54.1%, ​it added.

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%, ‌the agency said.

It warned, however, that Italy's exposure to non-EU markets, including the U.S., was higher compared to other ⁠large EU economies — a potential 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 Italy's total imports to 10.3%, higher ​than Germany, France or Spain.

Chinese-sourced productive inputs for Italian manufacturing have risen 60% since 2017, while Chinese pharmaceuticals imports rose 934% last year to more than 7.7 billion ‌euros, ISTAT said.

Italy's strategically important imports — such as energy products — account for roughly 20% of the total and remain ‌exposed to geopolitical risks, the agency added.

Without naming countries, the Rome-based institute ⁠noted that 60% of Italy's ‌strategic imports come directly ​from states with "medium" or "high" political risk levels.

($1 = 0.8670 euros)

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli and Valentina Consiglio, editing by Alvise Armellini and ‌Alexander Smith)

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