Appointment at Coverings

(April 2025) | At the end of April, Orlando will host the latest edition of Coverings, North America’s pre-eminent trade show for the ceramic tile industry. The event offers a valuable opportunity to engage with the Central and North American markets at a particularly significant, and in many ways unprecedented, moment for international trade.

With 80 companies taking part, this year’s edition marks one of the strongest showings by the Italian tile industry since the pandemic, confirming the sector’s enduring interest in the North American market. The United States remains the third-largest export destination for Italian ceramic tiles with sales reaching €677 million in 2024. This importance is further underscored by Italy’s overall market share: when combining direct exports with sales by US-based companies owned by Italian groups, Italy controls 30% of the market in terms of value.

Coverings 2025 will also host the North American debut of the Tile Competition, an architecture award organised by Ceramics of Italy which honours outstanding projects carried out using Italian products. The competition showcases the aesthetic, design and above all conceptual potential of Italian ceramics. In the US market, where the ability to develop original solutions and apply ceramic tiles in unconventional contexts is a key competitive advantage, this initiative offers valuable visibility for companies that have made innovation central to their business philosophy.

Equally significant is the fact that this edition of the show takes place just weeks after the introduction of sweeping tariffs on imports of all ceramic products manufactured in Europe and in many other countries around the world. Although long anticipated, the full implications of the tariffs remain uncertain. What is clear is that they risk disrupting trade relationships built over decades, driving up inflation for US consumers and creating challenges for businesses across the construction supply chain.