Britain’s goods exports to the United States fell by £2 billion in April

Britain’s goods exports to the United States fell by £2 billion in April, the largest monthly drop since records began in 1997, after President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on imports to the US. 

The decline took total exports from the UK down to £4.1 billion, the lowest level since February 2022. The Office for National Statistics said the fall was “likely linked to the implementation of tariffs on goods imported to the United States.” Precious metals, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, and other categories all saw lower shipments compared with March.

Under the measures announced on April 2, dubbed “Liberation Day” by President Trump, the UK faced a 10% tariff on all goods. Steel, aluminium, cars and car parts were hit with a higher 25% duty. These levies appear to have cut heavily into British exports.

Machinery and transport equipment exports to the US fell by £800 million in April. A large part of that came from fewer car exports. Chemical exports slid by £300 million, driven by a drop in sales of medicinal and pharmaceutical products. Exports of material, including non-ferrous metals, also saw a marked decline.

The UK and US reached a deal on May 8 to lower car tariffs and remove duties on aluminium and steel. The new deal, however, has yet to take effect, and British exporters say they are still waiting for the changes to be implemented.

The ONS also reported that, in the three months to April, the UK’s combined goods and services trade deficit with the rest of the world widened by £4.9 billion, reaching £11.5 billion. This reflects the larger drop in exports compared with imports over that period.

ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown commented, “After increasing for each of the four preceding months, April saw the largest monthly fall on record in goods exports to the United States with decreases seen across most types of goods, following the recent introduction of tariffs.”

The total goods imports into the UK decreased by 1.6%

Overall, total goods imports into the UK fell by £0.9 billion, a 1.6% decrease. Imports from non-EU countries dropped by £0.5 billion (1.8%), while those from EU partners fell by £0.4 billion (1.5%).

On the exports side, total goods exports decreased by £2.5 billion, an 8.1% fall once inflation is stripped out. Exports to non-EU countries dropped by £1.8 billion (11.4%) and to the EU by £0.6 billion (4.4%).

In comparison, China’s total exports increased by 4.8% last month. However, China’s exports to the US were reduced by 35% in May compared to a year before, according to new customs data. In total, it exported only $28.8 billion to the US in May, as compared with $44 billion a year ago.

Earlier in April, UK factories experienced their biggest fall in overseas orders in five years, as lower demand from the US, Europe and China weighed on manufacturing. 

S&P Global’s UK Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing sector was in contractionary territory, though it edged up to a reading of 45.4 in April from 44.9 in March, beating the estimate of 44.0.

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