Last month, in Washington, D.C., Decode39, in partnership with the Wilson Center, hosted a high-level discussion on the evolution of U.S.–Italy economic relations. Marking 165 years of diplomatic ties between Rome and Washington, the event brought together parliamentarians, business leaders, and Italy’s Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti.
Bilateral trade now exceeds $100 billion annually, while investment continues to expand in both directions, U.S. investment in Italy stands at around $30 billion, and Italian investment in the United States has surpassed $45 billion, underscoring a deepening economic interdependence.
Italian FDI alone supports roughly 260,000 jobs across manufacturing, industrial equipment, food and beverage, and automotive sectors, reinforcing U.S. industrial capacity and regional development. At the same time, cooperation is increasingly shifting toward high-value sectors, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital technologies, and life sciences, where Italy’s role as Europe’s second-largest manufacturing base aligns closely with U.S. strengths in innovation, research, and capital markets.
The key challenge is to translate this momentum into a next-generation strategic partnership that strengthens competitiveness, economic security, and resilience in an era of intensifying geopolitical competition.
We asked three big transatlantic companies the question: “How can the United States and Italy transform a strong, but still underleveraged, economic relationship into a truly strategic partnership?”
At Fincantieri Marine Group, we are a testament to the U.S.–Italy partnership, one that we live daily – Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite, Chairman, Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM)
At Fincantieri Marine Group, we are a testament to the U.S.–Italy partnership, one that we live daily. American workers who cut and bend steel in our Wisconsin system of shipyards as they shape important naval capabilities in the form of warships, do so with decades of Italian engineering and maritime innovation that make it possible.
This gives us a unique perspective on the question of how to transform a strong, but still underleveraged, economic relationship into a truly strategic partnership. The answer begins with recognizing what has been done and what already works, and then deliberately scaling it.
Fincantieri Marine Group’s U.S. operations are an American industrial story, not a foreign investment saga. We have thousands of skilled jobs anchored in the Midwest and Florida, and a supply chain that strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base as we build and deliver naval capabilities that strengthen allied security. Our Italian expertise and development of globally innovative solutions, combined with American industrial scale, are indeed complementary.
I believe we can evolve this opportunity in several key areas, such as: Accelerating joint shipyard modernization — leveraging Italian design and modular-construction expertise alongside U.S. investment to rebuild a maritime industrial base that meets 21st-century strategic demands,
Co-developing next-generation platforms through harmonized standards and technology-transfer frameworks that reflect the trust between genuine allies, and continuing to coinvest in the shipbuilding workforce, fusing Italy’s master-shipwright tradition with American technical education to build the human capital this sector urgently needs. For Fincantieri the foundation was laid seventeen years ago. Now we should build upon it.
The United States and Italy have a rare opportunity — already operational, already proven — to anchor a transatlantic maritime industrial base equal to the strategic challenges ahead. At Fincantieri Marine Group, we are ready to build upon it.
Strengthening the Transatlantic Partnership in Aerospace & Defense Fasteners – Michele Poggipolini, CEO, Poggipolini S.p.A.
The partnership with the United States is of strategic importance to our Group. The U.S. represents our primary market and the key driver of our future growth, both organically and through targeted acquisitions. Consolidating this relationship is particularly critical at a moment when the aerospace and defense supply chain — our core business — is facing a significant shortage of fasteners. Production capacity in this segment is structurally constrained, as only a limited number of predominantly American players hold the qualifications required to serve both commercial and defense programs.
Over the past fifteen years, our Group has invested substantially in innovation, robotics, and automation. Our brand-new Bologna facility stands today as a center of excellence in the manufacturing of critical fasteners made from special alloys such as titanium and Inconel, with the capability to scale efficiently to high volumes. However, regulatory barriers — most notably ITAR — continue to limit our ability to bring this breakthrough and productive capacity fully to the American market.
Our strategy is clear and consistent. The acquisition completed in 2024 of Houston Precision Fasteners was a deliberate step toward identifying American good company whose production and technology base has not evolved for decades, and bringing to them the best practices, innovations, and automated processes developed in Bologna. In this way, we are investing directly on U.S. soil to better serve our American customers.
Nevertheless, greater flexibility in meeting the requirements of certain governmental programs, particularly in defense, would significantly accelerate our ability to help American clients resolve current capacity constraints. We represent the innovation and excellence that this strategic sector needs. To deliver its full value, however, we require a 360-degree institutional dialogue — one that also engages those responsible for facilitating imports into US from Europe. This balanced two-way approach is essential to unlocking the full potential of the partnership.
We are dedicated to ensuring that every Italian has the tools they need to embrace these technologies and thrive – Rita Balogh, Europe and Canada Lead, International Government Affairs, Google
As we celebrate our 25th anniversary in Italy, Google remains deeply committed to empowering the country’s digital future through foundational infrastructure like our two Cloud regions and subsea cables, as well as promoting its rich heritage via Google Arts & Culture.
AI presents a transformative opportunity to boost productivity, advance healthcare, and build resilient communities, but capturing this €150-170 billion economic potential requires an urgent, collective focus on widespread adoption. Through targeted skills initiatives like Italia in Digitale and AI for Made in Italy, we are dedicated to ensuring that every Italian has the tools they need to embrace these technologies and thrive.
