IN Brief:
- UK goods exports to the US fell to £59.2bn in 2025, down 10.3% year on year.
- The US remained the UK’s largest goods export market, but tariff costs hit sectors including cars, clothing, footwear, and pharmaceuticals.
- With Washington’s temporary surcharge due to run until July 24, exporters face another period of route, market, and sourcing adjustment.
British exporters are entering 2026 with a more complicated U.S. route to market after fresh tariff measures helped push the value of UK goods exports to the United States down 10.3% to £59.2bn in 2025.
Analysis from Lubbock Fine points to broad-based pressure across sectors that had previously relied on the U.S. as a stable destination for higher-value goods. Cars remained one of the most exposed categories, with exports to the U.S. down 28.1% to £7.5bn last year. Clothing exports fell by more than 25% to £288.7m, footwear dropped 21.2% to £33.5m, and pharmaceuticals and medicinal products fell 8.4% to £10.2bn.
The decline is significant not simply because of its size, but because the U.S. is still the UK’s largest goods export market. Government trade statistics show total UK goods exports reached £379.8bn in 2025, with the U.S. accounting for 15.6% of that total. Goods exports to the EU, by comparison, stood at £182.2bn, down 1.0% year on year but still far larger in aggregate than trade with any single country.
The tariff picture is still shifting. Washington imposed a 10% reciprocal tariff on UK exports in April 2025, alongside higher sector-specific duties that included cars, steel, and aluminium. A subsequent UK-U.S. agreement reduced the tariff on car exports to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles shipped annually, but that has not been enough to restore previous momentum. For many exporters, the issue is no longer just duty cost. It is the unpredictability of tariff design, timing, and duration, which feeds into inventory planning, landed cost calculations, and customer pricing.
Alex Altmann, partner at Lubbock Fine, said: “Tariffs have already reduced the value of British goods exports to the US and with more likely on the way, I would not be surprised to see further falls in trade. This illustrates the need for Britain to cultivate trade with other nations especially by reducing friction on trade with the EU, Britain’s biggest trading partner.”
That warning has gained weight again this month. The White House’s temporary import surcharge, imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, set a 10% ad valorem duty on most imports and is due to run until July 24, 2026 unless changed earlier or extended by Congress. Reuters also reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the rate was likely to rise to 15%, adding another layer of uncertainty for exporters already working through elevated effective tariff burdens on some product lines.
The effect on supply chains is likely to be practical as much as strategic. Exporters facing volatile U.S. duties are more likely to revisit customer allocation, origin strategy, customs planning, and regional distribution footprints. Where U.S. volumes soften and EU friction eases even marginally, trade flows could tilt back toward shorter, more predictable corridors.
For now, the U.S. remains too large a market for UK exporters to ignore. But it has become a harder market to plan around, and that changes decisions well beyond the customs declaration.
