US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he speaks to reporters after the meeting during the Group of Seven (G7) summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 16, 2025.
Brandon Smialowski | AFP | getty images
Exports of British goods to the US fell by almost 25% after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff attack and have remained muted since then, official data shows.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday that goods exports to the United States, excluding precious metals, fell by £1.5 billion, or 24.7%, after the tariffs were imposed.
Car exports from the UK to the States have also declined since then and are now below pre-tariff levels in the 12 months to April 2025, the statistics body said.
While goods exports to Britain have remained low, goods imports surged in early 2026, leading to three consecutive months of a trade deficit with the country’s largest trading partner.
Last year, Britain became the first country to secure a trade deal with the Trump administration after the president unveiled the so-called Emancipation Day tariffs, which in turn hit global markets. The terms of the deal included an overall tariff of 10% on goods imported into the United States.
It ended the zero-tariff trading environment for exporters on both sides of the Atlantic and imposed new tariffs on Scotch whiskey and other spirits shipped from Britain to the US.
This week, Trump announced he would remove all tariffs on Scotch whiskey “in honor” of the state visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Although the Scotch whiskey industry employs around 40,000 people in Scotland and accounts for 23% of all Scottish malt exports in 2025, this alone will not be enough to recover the overall British deficit.
“The US remains the UK’s largest export market – so the scale of the recession is likely to have an impact on overall UK growth,” said Samuel Edwards, head of client portfolio management at Ebury.
“Exporters are facing triple pressure from tariffs, increased employment costs and taxes and higher trade costs from input price pressures – all of which are squeezing margins and making it harder to compete internationally.”
