Italian Exports Defy “Tariff Apocalypse” with 35% โSurgeโข too the US
For months, a chorus ofโ voices in โItaly predicted economic disaster following the proclamation โof โUS tariffs, forecasting aโข crippling blow to Italian businesses and exports. Though, recentโ data reveals a โstrikingly different reality: Italian โexports to โthe United Statesโข have โคactually increased by a remarkableโข 35% compared to the previous year.
Thisโ surge directly contradicts the dire warnings issued by โฃprominent political figures and commentators. Elly Schlein warned of โ”devastatingโ risk” to jobs and exports, accusing โthe government of “subordination” and predictingโ tariffs would “bring entire production sectors to โขtheir knees.” Giuseppe Conte โขdescribed โItaly as a “loser” in the โtariffโ dispute,invokingโฃ a “Commercial Caporetto” โข- a referenceโ to a devastating military defeat in World Warโฃ I. Paolo Gentiloni, speaking from Brussels, identified โคItalyโค andโ Germany as the “most exposed countries,” suggesting their productionโ systems would be overwhelmed. Maurizio Landini โspoke of a “failure of globalization” and “serious danger” to thousandsโ ofโ jobs.
The alarmist rhetoric extended further,โค withโ Nicola Fratoianniโข and Angelo Bonelli proposing a โboycott of American products, labeling the tariffs a “very serious threat.”โ Mario Montiโฃ cautioned that US protectionism risked a European recession, while numerous commentators predicted meaningful export declinesโค and multi-billion euroโ losses. Thisโ campaign painted a โขpicture of Italy as the primary victim of Washington‘s trade policies.
Though, the September 2025 data โคtellsโฃ a different story. Overall Italian exports grew by 10.5% year-on-year, with the non-EU โฃmarket โ- โฃthe area many predictedโ would sufferโข the most – experiencing an increase of nearly 11%. Most significantly, exports to the United States soared by 35%. This represents โnot a contraction, โขslowdown, or sectoral โฃdecline, but a substantial boom.
While acknowledging a temporary dip inโ exportsโ to the US in Augustโ 2025,likely due to initial uncertainty surrounding the tariffs,the overallโข trend demonstrates the resilience ofโ Italian industry. The author argues that the success is due โขtoโ Italian โcompanies’ abilityโข to compete and sell in the world’s wealthiest market,driven by consumer demand. โค Once theโ tariff adjustments were manageable within the supply chain, trade resumed based on market forces.
The piece โฃconcludes that the โtrue weakness โคlies not โin US trade policy โ- which the author acknowledges as pragmatic – but in Italy’s tendency to exaggerate international developments into national emergencies, a โrecurringโค pattern in Italian politics. The author calls for humility and a more grounded, less politically-motivated approach to economic analysis.
