ROME, March 13 — Italy said yesterday the United States had agreed to further cut duties on pasta brands accused of exporting at below-market prices, in what it said was a “positive” final decision.
The US Department of Commerce in September announced plans to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of over 91 per cent on pasta from January 2026, on top of the 15 per cent already in place.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government — which is close to US President Donald Trump — on January 1 announced it had secured a preliminary reduction in duties.
In its final decision yesterday, the US agreed to further cut the duty on Garofalo pasta to seven per cent, from 91.7 per cent initially threatened and 13.89 per cent at the end of December, the Italian foreign ministry announced.
The duty on Molisana pasta will now be 2.65 per cent — slightly up on the 2.26 per cent agreed in December but well below the initial 91.7 per cent.
“The anti-dumping duty applied to the other 11 companies involved... is 5.21 per cent, compared to 91.7 per cent last September and 9.09 per cent last December 31,” the ministry said.
It described this as a “positive outcome”.
The US market is key for Italian pasta producers: it generated an estimated value of €671 million (RM3 billion) in 2024, around 17 per cent of total exports, according to farm industry association Coldiretti. — AFP
