MILAN (Reuters) -More than half of the companies from Italy's industrial heartland which export to the U.S. are studying countermeasures to tariffs, including establishing a bigger presence across the Atlantic, the Bank of Italy said on Thursday.  

Presenting a report on the northern region comprising Milan, the central bank said the U.S. accounted for 8.6% of exports out of Lombardy, with beverages, fashion, furniture and pharmaceutics more exposed to tariff risks.

That was slightly below the national average, as Italian exports to the United States account for 10.5% of the total.

The Bank of Italy said 54% of Lombardy-based companies which sell goods in the United States were adapting their strategies to President Donald Trump's announced tariff hikes.

Around 18% of the firms planning countermeasures said they would look for new markets while some 14% are looking to increase their local presence, the central bank found. 

The remaining 46% of companies surveyed said they were not planning action as their share of U.S. exports was small or because they deemed alternative moves to be too costly.