The United States and Canada account for approximately 17% of the world’s GDP, with the USA holding the largest share per country in the global ranking at 15.8%.
Italy is present in the United States and Canada with an extensive diplomatic-consular network of 50 offices (2 Embassies, 41 Consulates, including honorary ones, and 7 Cultural Institutes). There is a sizeable community of Italian origin in the two countries (17.7 million in the USA and 1.5 million in Canada). 2022 marks the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic relations with Canada, while 2021 saw the celebration of the 160th anniversary of Italy-US diplomatic relations.
The Foreign Ministry promotes the strengthening of the already strong partnership with the United States and Canada, deeply rooted in a shared framework of democratic principles, with the common goal of jointly addressing global challenges, supporting multilateralism and the international order based on the rule of law, and ensuring transatlantic prosperity and security, also through the membership of NATO. Italy cooperates with the United States and Canada in many multilateral organisations and forums, first and foremost the United Nations and the G7, and also contributes to the framework of the European Union’s bilateral cooperation with each of the two countries, recently relaunched by the EU-US and EU-Canada Transatlantic Agendas.
The Italy-US Strategic Dialogue on the Mediterranean was launched in 2018, allowing for a regular dialogue on the main dossiers pertaining to the region. On February 25, 2022, the third plenary meeting of this exercise was held in Washington.
During the course of the year, wide-ranging consultations between officials at the highest level will take place alongside the bilateral talks of government representatives with both countries. Furthermore, December will see the second Summit for Democracy launched by President Biden, to which Italy will actively contribute with a framework of commitments to defend democracy on a national and global scale.