British exports of goods to the United States dropped by 15.5% in January to £4.2 billion, the third month in a row that shipments to the US have fallen, data published Friday by business advisers Lubbock Fine show.
The January figure was an 11.3% decline from December 2025 and compares with £4.9 billion recorded in January 2025. The reduction in exports was concentrated in machinery and transport equipment, which fell by £400 million, with cars singled out as a notable component. Most other goods categories also recorded decreases in January.
The downward trend follows a series of measures introduced since President Donald Trump’s return to office last year that have erected tariffs on various goods entering the US. For the year ending December 31, 2025, UK goods exports to the US declined 10.3% to £59.2 billion - the first annual fall since the pandemic.
Even after a trade agreement reached with the US government in May, exporters face additional headwinds: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent has said Washington will impose a global 15% tariff imminently, a development Lubbock Fine identified as adding pressure to UK exports.
Over the last year the US accounted for 15.6% of the UK’s total goods exports of £379.8 billion. By contrast, exports to the 27 member states of the European Union amounted to £182.2 billion in 2025, a 1% decline from 2024.
Alex Altmann, a partner at Lubbock Fine, argued that easing trade frictions with the EU could help offset some of the lost volume to the US. He identified import and export declarations, documentary requirements and inspection procedures as specific administrative hurdles that, if reduced, could support trade growth with European partners. Altmann also pointed to border checks and controls on food, drink, plants and animal products as particular impediments to doing business with the EU.
The data highlight acute near-term pressures on UK goods exports tied to tariff policy and point to the potential for administrative reforms with the EU to moderate those pressures. The pattern of monthly declines and the yearly contraction to the US underline an elevated degree of uncertainty for exporters reliant on the American market.