The British Chambers of Commerce stated that the decline was partly due to manufacturers shipping extra goods in March to avoid a tariff increase.

UK exports to the U.S. saw the sharpest drop on record in April as U.S. President Donald Trumpā€™s tariffs upended global trade.

According to the Office for National Statistics data, Britain shipped 4.1 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) worth of goods to its North American ally in April, a 33% decline from 6.1 billion pounds in March.

It was the lowest amount of goods exported to the U.S. since 2022 and the most significant decline since records began in 1997.

According to a Reuters report, the British Chambers of Commerce stated that the decline was partly due to manufacturers shipping extra goods in March to avoid a tariff increase. Even so, April's goods exports were down 15% compared to a year earlier.

"The economic effects of the U.S. tariffs are now a reality. Thousands of UK exporters are dealing with lower orders and higher supply chain and customer costs," the BCC's head of trade policy, William Bain, reportedly said.

While U.S. exports to the UK also dropped nearly 8% to 4.7 billion pounds. However, the record plunge in outbound shipments from Britain helped the U.S. log its first trade surplus with the country since May 2024.

The trade imbalance caused the UK gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 0.3% in April, compared with the 0.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Washington, D.C., first imposed 25% tariffs on British steel and aluminum on March 12, boosted the auto imports tariff to 27.5%, and imposed a blanket tariff of 10% on all other goods. 

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU) has risen 20% this year, compared with 2.4% gains of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

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