"The recovery of Italy and the United States and the record data on bilateral trade in 2021 allow us to look forward to 2022 with optimism, with due attention to the geopolitical framework and critical factors such as inflationary pressures". These were the words of the Italian Ambassador, Mariangela Zappia, to the managers of the main Italian groups operating in the United States gathered in Washington, to whom she assured the support of the Embassy and of the whole Italian System in the Country.

The Ambassador recalled the recent data of the US Department of Commerce, which show a growth of 19.4% in bilateral trade in 2021. In particular, she highlighted the increase in exports of Italian products to the US, equal to 23.4% compared to 2020 and 6.5% compared to 2019. These data confirm the key position of the United States, source of more than half of Italy's net foreign surplus, as our main non-EU trade partner and third in the world.

"The Italian government has contributed to generating this trend and sustains it - noted the Ambassador -, with innovative tools such as the Pact for Export, launched in 2020, and the nation branding campaign "beIT" launched last December by MAECI for the promotion of "Made in Italy" on the US market and in 25 other foreign markets.

The relaunch of EU-US relations in the economic field - with the overcoming of some tariff disputes, the start of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) and the restart of the Energy Council - as well as the dynamics of "near-shoring" and "re-shoring" of the value chains and the transformation of the Italian economy started with the PNRR will contribute to a further strengthening of trade and investments between Italy and the United States. The Ambassador insisted on "sustainability and innovation, two themes on which Italy has much to say" as priorities in the action of the Italian System in the USA.

In the interventions of the managers, a very positive picture of Italian business in the USA emerged, which has seen record numbers in all sectors. The demand for Italian products is very high and growing, despite systemic limitations such as energy costs, difficulties in logistics, supply-chain bottlenecks and lack of skilled labor. In the face of challenges such as decarbonization, energy transition, "great resignation", rising wages, the shift towards e-commerce and changing consumption, factors such as training, digitization, dimensional growth and investments in new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence appear to be common priorities in all sectors.