ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to the United States next week for talks on tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump, her office said on Tuesday.

Meloni is facing a diplomatic balancing act as she is an ally of Trump but also under pressure to defend Italy's export-focused industry.

Italy last year ran the third-largest trade surplus in the European Union for goods with the U.S., after Germany and Ireland.

The prime minister has called Trump's decision on tariffs a mistake, but warned that EU countermeasures could escalate a trade war, and called for negotiations to mitigate the crisis.

Countries from the European Union face 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminum and cars and broader tariffs of 20% for almost all other goods under Trump's policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to U.S. imports.

Although EU ministers have agreed they should prioritise negotiations, the bloc is set to approve the first retaliatory measures this week.

(Writing by Giulia Segreti, Editing by Crispian Balmer)