Commerce Confirms Italian Pasta Sold Below Fair Value in U.S. Market

The U.S. Department of Commerce published its final antidumping ruling on Italian pasta on March 16, 2026, confirming that certain pasta from Italy was sold in the United States at less than normal value during the period July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. The notice, Document 2026-05099, spans three pages of the Federal Register at 91 FR 12582-12584 and carries docket number A-475-818.

The ruling caps a review that Commerce initiated on August 14, 2024, covering 18 entities, after interested parties requested scrutiny of Italian pasta exports. A post-preliminary analysis released on December 31, 2025, examined whether 13 of those companies had dumped pasta into the U.S. market, and it revealed a dramatic retreat from the original proposed duty of 91.74 percent, which Italian farming officials had warned would be "a mortal blow" to the industry.

Under the adjusted rates reported at the post-preliminary stage, La Molisana saw its proposed duty slashed to 2.26 percent, while Pastificio Lucio Garofalo faced a rate of 13.89 percent. A broader group of companies, which the Italian government confirmed includes Barilla, was assigned a proposed rate of 9.09 percent.

A Commerce Department spokesperson described the shift as evidence of cooperation: "This post-preliminary analysis indicates that Italian pasta makers have addressed many of Commerce's concerns raised in the preliminary determination, and reflects Commerce's commitment to a fair, transparent process. Commerce will continue to engage with interested parties to take into account all information before issuing the final determination."

The path to these final results was complicated by two government shutdowns. Commerce tolled all administrative deadlines by 47 days on November 14, 2025, then added another 21 days on November 24 after a document backlog built up in its Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Centralized Electronic Service System, known as ACCESS. The official deadline for the final results had been listed as March 11, 2026, but the Federal Register notice carries a March 16 publication date.

With the final results now published, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will assess antidumping duties on all appropriate entries covered by the review. For Garofalo and La Molisana specifically, if Commerce based their weighted-average dumping margins on total adverse facts available, CBP will assess duties at the rate equal to that weighted-average margin. The exact company-specific final margins appear in the full Federal Register notice.

This is not the first time Italian pasta has drawn a Commerce finding. In November 2022, the agency determined that Pastificio Di Martino Gaetano e Flli S.p.A. and Pastificio dei Campi S.p.A. sold pasta below normal value during the July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 period of review, a case in which no interested party submitted comments or requested a hearing, leaving those final results unchanged from the preliminary stage.

The antidumping order on pasta from Italy has been in place since July 24, 1996, covering non-egg dry pasta in packages of five pounds four ounces or less, sold in retail fiberboard or cardboard cartons, with optional ingredients including vegetables, milk, gluten, vitamins, colorings, and up to two percent egg white. For questions about the current ruling, Commerce has listed Patrick Barton of AD/CVD Operations, Office III, at (202) 482-0012 as the contact.