Liguria, exports continue despite US tariffs

The introduction of American tariffs represents a very bad premise for exports, consumption and investments in Italy; but positive news comes from the partial return of the price of oil, from contained inflation and from the path of interest rate cuts undertaken in the Eurozone. These are all elements that tend to make companies moderately optimistic at a national level and that support, also in Liguria, the climate of confidence among companies in the manufacturing sectors, which remains optimistic. This is recorded in the economic survey on the performance of Ligurian industry in the third quarter of 2025, prepared by the Confindustria Liguria research office, which underlines, among other things, how, "in a framework of uncertainty in international trade", expectations on production and orders remain "in positive territory". And the confidence of Ligurian companies also appears high on employment.

Going into the details of the individual product sectors, the report states, "the climate of confidence among Ligurian engineering companies is improving. Export forecasts are not affected by the imposition of tariffs, and production is also expected to grow in the quarter in question. Orders and employment are also good".

The sentiment among the food industries also continues to be optimistic. "Turnover and orders," reads the study, "remain in positive territory; production is expected to increase, despite uncertainty about export performance, the indicator for which, however, remains above par. Employment is on the rise.

Building and construction materials sectors are bucking the trend. Here 'turnover is expected to slow down over the next few months', as 'the effects of the government bonus and construction sites linked to the NRP have come to an end. Above all, the activity of companies working across borders is declining'. Employment, however, Confindustria notes, 'is holding up'.

According to companies in the electronics, automation and information technology sector, exports are "still expected to expand". They also foresee "moderate growth in orders and production, which is associated with "confidence in the expansion of the workforce". The forecasts of companies in the plastics-rubber and textile industry are "on the whole stationary": in both cases, production, orders and exports are expected to increase slightly in the short term.