Britain’s goods exports to the United States fell sharply in April, causing the country’s trade deficit to widen.
Official figures released on Thursday showed a drop of 2 billion pounds in exports to the U.S., falling from 6.1 billion pounds in March to 4.1 billion pounds in April. It was the biggest monthly decline since records began in 1997 and the lowest export level to the U.S. since February 2022.
The decline followed new tariffs imposed by the U.S. government. In March, the U.S. introduced a 25 percent tariff on British steel and aluminium. In early April, it raised tariffs on cars to 27.5 percent and applied a 10 percent tariff on other goods.
Britain later reached an outline deal with the U.S. to remove tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars, but the deal has not yet been put into effect. The 10 percent tariff on other goods is still in place.
The British Chambers of Commerce said some exporters had shipped more goods in March to avoid the expected tariffs, which may have led to the steep fall in April. Even so, goods exports to the U.S. were 15 percent lower compared to the same month a year earlier.
The U.S. is Britain’s largest single goods export market, especially for car makers, although total exports to the European Union are higher. In 2024, Britain exported 59.3 billion pounds of goods to the U.S. and imported 57.1 billion pounds.
The drop in exports to the U.S. pushed the overall goods trade deficit to 23.2 billion pounds in April, up from 19.9 billion pounds in March. Excluding precious metals, the deficit stood at 21.6 billion pounds, the highest since May 2023.
When including the country’s surplus in services exports, the total trade deficit reached 5.4 billion pounds in April.
