Economic relations between Italy and the United States continue to show remarkable resilience, with trade and investment expanding even as companies navigate tariffs and a more complex international environment.
Italian exports to the United States increased 7.2% in 2025, confirming the American market’s central importance for Made in Italy. U.S. data show that total bilateral trade in goods and services reached $149.8 billion last year. The United States imported $93.6 billion from Italy while exporting $56.2 billion to the Italian market. Italy ranked as America’s 15th-largest trading partner.
Investment is another increasingly important part of the relationship. Italian companies have steadily expanded their presence in the United States across industrial equipment, energy, food and beverages, electronic components, software, IT services and metals. Italian direct investment in the U.S. had already reached $54.7 billion in 2024, compared with $37 billion in 2020.
The strength of the relationship was highlighted in Milan during “Navigating U.S.–Italy Commercial Policies,” an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in New York.
Participants examined how businesses can respond to tariffs through customs planning, trade policy expertise and supply-chain optimization. The discussion also produced an ambitious proposal – closer integration between the 2 chambers, potentially leading to the creation of a transatlantic chamber serving companies on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lombardy illustrates the importance of the American market particularly well. In 2025, the United States accounted for 8.68% of the region’s exports, making it Lombardy’s largest market outside the European Union and its third-largest export destination overall.
The numbers suggest that the Italy–U.S. commercial relationship is becoming broader, more sophisticated and increasingly investment-driven. For Italian businesses, America remains not only a major destination for exports but also a strategic market in which to establish operations, invest and build long-term partnerships.
