The ongoing tensions over tariffs between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have reached boiling point.
Hard times are here for American aficionados of Italian cuisine: Starting in January 2026, a special tariff on Italian-made pasta will come into force in the USA – the latest shot fired in a veritable "pasta war" between Washington and Rome. According to an official document from the US Department of Commerce, 18 Italian companies were inspected at the behest of competing producers. This routine audit found that imported pasta was being sold in the States at alleged dumping prices, thereby harming America's domestic manufacturers. As a result, the United States threatened a punitive tariff of 91.74 percent on top of the existing duty of 15 percent for a a total burden of almost 107 percent. A figure that would pose enormous challenges to the Italian food industry.
The fear of such an exorbitant tariff is great. Both the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, and the President of the farmers' association Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, sounded the alarm according to media reports. For him, a 107 percent punitive tariff would a hard blow for American families during a cost-of-living crisis, while also paving the way for "Italian-sounding imitations".
In addition pasta producers are not the only ones potentially affected. If the new tariff actually comes into force in early 2026, the entire Italian food industry could suffer. Intense negotiations are therefore currently underway in Rome and Washington.
