Effect of tariffs: Italian agri-food exports to the US at -23% in August 2025 (on August 2024)

It remains to be seen whether the impact of previously stockpiled goods, uncertainty over the percentage of tariffs (later set at 15%, after speculation of much higher rates that dominated the summer news) or how they would be applied was greater. The fact remains that, as expected, in August 2025, compared to August 2024, imports of Italian agri-food products to the US have slowed sharply, by 23%, with a loss of €126 million in just 30 days. This is according to the CIA/Italian Farmers Research Department, analyzing data released today by ISTAT, with Coldiretti adding that the data “confirms the forecasts of recent weeks on the performance of certain sectors, starting with wine, where the percentage is estimated to be over 30%”. This is echoed by the Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), led by Lamberto Frescobaldi, which highlights a -28% drop in value in the two-month period July-August 2025, compared to the same period in 2024 (for a cumulative value of €227 million, source: Uiv).
“A negative trend is clearly emerging and consolidating. Since April, overseas sales have been falling for the third consecutive month, after years of steady growth. Between June and August 2025, losses already exceed €210 million. But this slowdown”, warns the CIA/Italian Farmers Research Department, “is also reflected in the overall trend for 2025. In the first eight months, the annual growth of Italian agri-food exports to the US has effectively been wiped out, compared to the 19% increase recorded in the same period in 2024. In absolute terms, this means that while between January and August 2024 the trend increase in exports was €802 million, in the same period of 2025 it was only €1 million”. “US tariffs, combined with the unfavorable euro/dollar exchange rate, are affecting our quality exports, putting thousands of agri-food companies in difficulty”, said CIA/Italian Farmers President Cristiano Fini. “We must move quickly and decisively, acting promptly to safeguard years of work and presence built up on the American market”.
In any case, “exports to the US exceeded €5 billion in the first eight months, in line with the same period in 2024”, Coldiretti points out, “but this was the result of an uneven trend. After a first quarter of the year in which agri-food exports to the US saw an average growth in value of 11%, in the first three months of application of the additional 10% tariffs, this fell to +1.3% in April, +0.4% in May, and -2.9% in June, before reaching -10% in July and a collapse in August”, adds Coldiretti (as confirmed by Istat data up to July 2025 analyzed in detail by WineNews for wine, according to which, in the first eight months, Italian wineries exported €1.1 billion worth of wine to the United States, down 0.1% on the same period in 2024, with a 26.3% drop in July 2025 compared to July 2024, from €134.4 million to €183.8 million, month on month, ed.).
“With tariffs rising to 15%, growth has effectively been wiped out”, adds Coldiretti, “although the coming months will reveal whether the reversal is structural or merely a temporary adjustment. With the US representing the largest non-EU market in terms of value for Italian agri-food exports, it is not surprising that 81% of Italians believe it is essential for the EU to start new negotiations with Trump to obtain exemptions from tariffs in key sectors, such as wine, according to the Coldiretti/Censis report. There is also an expectation of greater incisiveness on the part of the EU, as 79% of Italians expect the European Commission to be more determined in the next round of negotiations. Italians therefore believe that more could and should be done in relations with the US, because the overly friendly approach has in fact penalized Italian companies and communities, as well as those of other countries”.
“As expected”, commented Lamberto Frescobaldi, president of Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), “tariffs and the weakness of the dollar have affected market performance. The situation, which saw US consumption falling and, at the same time, an increase in orders for stocks, could not be sustained for long, and the data for the two summer months confirm this. Companies are now called upon to look to the medium-long term: on the one hand, it will be important to seize the opportunity to further improve efficiency and management; on the other, to strengthen their presence in foreign markets, starting with the United States in the stabilization phase. In this context, the intervention of institutions in the field of promotion and internationalization will be significant. We are therefore looking closely at the next budget, which should allocate additional resources to the promotion of wine through the ICE Agency”.