Kerrie Joyce 
It’s no secret that the East Coast has a special place in its heart for Italian pasta. In New Jersey, there are countless delis dedicated to selling Italian imports. In addition to tariffs set on European imports earlier this year, the United States Department of Commerce recently issued an additional fee on Italian pasta brands bringing the rate up to 107%. Read on to learn more about what pasta-lovers should expect in the coming months.
About the Tariffs
The tariffs were set earlier this year establishing a 15% tariff rate on all imports from the European Union. The additional fees issued in September would specifically impact Italian pasta exporters. Per reporting from the Daily Voice, the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated an investigation into Italian pasta brands accused of “dumping” pasta into U.S. markets at rates less than fair market value and failed to provide full documentation during the investigation.
Read More: Bracing For Tariff Increases: How Will Hoboken Businesses Be Impacted?
Generally, dumping is a practice in international trade in which the product is sold for less in the importing country than its value in the country exporting the product. The World Trade Organization established a policy known as the Anti-Dumping Agreement in 1994 to guide investigations into incidents of dumping that result in harm to a domestic industry.
In this instance, the United States is arguing that Italian pasta brands harmed the domestic pasta industry in the United States by selling their products at an unfair price compared to U.S. competing producers. Per NBC, the investigation began under the Biden Administration in August of 2024 and has continued under the Trump Administration. The most recent decision in the investigation applied an additional 92% punitive duty on imports from 13 Italian pasta brands sold in U.S. markets.
Impacted Brands
The Department of Commerce initially launched its investigation into two Italian pasta manufacturers, La Molisana and Pasta Garofalo. Other companies that have yet to be individually reviewed but will be impacted by the tariff rate include Agritalia, Aldino, Antiche Tradizioni Di Gragnano, Barilla, Grupo Millo, Pastificio Artigiano Cav. Giuseppe Cocco, Pastificio Chiavenna, Pastificio Liguori, Pastificio Sgambaro, Pastificio Tamma, and Rummo.
Reporting from Newsweek states that the new rates set to take effect in January 2026 may not impact all Barilla pasta, as the company produces pasta in both the United States and Italy. Via Barilla‘s website, products made in Italy are marked as such on the packaging, while its U.S.-manufactured products are made in Ames, Iowa and Avon, New York.
See More: 24 Italian Restaurants in Montclair + Bloomfield, Based on Your Preferences
Rummo’s U.S. Chief Commercial Officer Jim Donnelly told NBC that it would not cease exporting its products to the United States but that prices would see large increases. Donnelly also stated, “We will absorb this until this bad ‘cookie-cutter judgment’ is fixed. We are confident the government will see this as a big mistake,” regarding the additional fee, since it is based on the initial investigation into La Molisana and Pasta Garofalo.
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