American grocery shoppers are becoming accustomed to more foreign food products lining the shelves of their supermarkets. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish are just a portion of the many imported items competing with domestic producers for a place on consumers’ tables. The government estimates that approximately 15% of the U.S. food supply is imported, with some products accounting for a 50% to 60% share of the market.

Imported foods are more numerous for various reasons. Some foods like bananas, coffee, chocolate, spices, cashew nuts and others are not produced in the U.S. or have low domestic production. Other items are produced in larger quantities or grown cheaper in other countries. Foods such as dairy products, red meats, grains and vegetables are imported less because of high domestic production.

Food imports are subject to U.S. laws and regulations designed to assure food safety and also protect domestic producers from unfair trade practices. The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture are tasked with monitoring and inspecting imported food products for safe consumption. The Bioterrorism Act requires that all food importers provide information as to the source of the food and the name of the foreign manufacturer or grower. The Department of Commerce determines whether import prices have an adverse impact on the domestic market, and if so can require additional import tariffs.

One imported food that has grown in popularity is pasta from Italy. Although Turkey, Canada and China export pasta to the U.S., Italy has maintained its hold on the U.S. market for quality and sheer variety of shapes. “Pasta” is Italian for “paste,” and describes the process of combining flour and water to make the numerous shapes and sizes of the product. Dried pasta, “pasta secca,” is made from durum wheat semolina and water in an industrial process.

Pasta in Italy is traced back to ancient Rome where a pasta-like noodle was baked rather than boiled. Dried pasta was actually invented by the Arabs, who dried the flour and water dough to make it last longer. They introduced it to Sicily around the 8th century and new shapes of pasta emerged with names like macaroni and vermicelli. The Industrial Revolution allowed pasta to be produced in mass quantities by machine, and made it a popular food staple in Italy.

The first pasta was brought to America by the English, who discovered it in Italy. Thomas Jefferson introduced the first macaroni machine to the States in 1789 after purchasing it on a visit to Italy. But pasta was not produced commercially in the U.S. until 1848, when a factory was built in Brooklyn, N.Y. Italian imports were curtailed during World War I, so U.S. factories increased their production of pasta. As the popularity of pasta grew, the number of domestic producers also grew, creating one of the larger food industries in the U.S.

Today imported pasta competes with domestic on the open market, providing a variety of products for consumers. But in 1995 domestic producers complained to the DOC’s International Trade Commission that dry pasta from Italy and Turkey was being dumped in large volumes on the U.S. market. They claimed the low price was underselling U.S. producers and causing harm to the domestic industry. The ITC investigated and agreed that there was sufficient injury to U.S. pasta producers to impose an antidumping duty on dry pasta from the two countries.

Dry pasta is actually a duty free product, so the assessment of the antidumping duty meant an ad valorum tax would be assessed on all shipments from Italy and Turkey. A tax to counter foreign government subsidies was also added. The tax rates differ according to foreign manufacturer.

The taxes or tariffs apply only to imports of non-egg dry pasta in packages of five pounds or less. Excluded are refrigerated, frozen, canned, organic and egg pasta. Most of the pasta imported is in the non-egg dry form, and at retail is usually in boxes or plastic bags.

Despite the tariffs, shipments of dry pasta from Italy have not slowed. Producers continue to export many varieties and shapes of dry pasta to the U.S. At any one time the Italian Trade Commission says there are about 300 dried pasta varieties on the U.S. market. Some of the more unique ones are found in gourmet markets and Italian food speciality stores.

One of the larger local pasta importers is Giampaolo Nundini, president of Nundini Enterprises, Inc., who owns a specialty store and deli at 500 North Shepherd Dr. Nundini offers various food and beverage products from Italy. Mr. Nundini says the tariff on dry pasta is an added cost, but he is still able to offer a high quality product at a very good price. “We have pasta from five quality producers: Corte Castello, Conforti, De Ceccco, Poitta, and Rummo.” He says customers can find prices in his store 30% to 40% below what they will pay in other retail outlets. Nundini is also a supplier of pasta to area food distributors and restaurants. More on his products can be found at www.nundini.com.

For more information on pasta, visit www.italianmade.com and www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp