The west Midlands, the south east of England and the east of England will be hit hardest by Trump’s tariffs, figures released by the Department for Business and Trade this morning (April 7) have revealed.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have sent markets into freefall and damaged growth prospects for nations across the world, including Britain.
Indeed, the latest Trade and Investment Factsheet valued all Anglo-American trade during 2024 at £294billion, a small decrease of 2.3% or £6.8 billion on 2023.
Britain exported £182.6billion to the US during 2024, making it Britain’s biggest trading partner and accounting for 17.2 per cent of all our trade.
However, a huge £124billion (68 per cent) of Britain’s exports to the US came in the form of services, mostly financial, which are more difficult to tariff than a physical good.
Nevertheless, the remaining 32 per cent of Britain’s exports (£58billion- the same size as the entire defence budget) to the USA were goods.
This is what has sparked serious concern for companies manufacturing things for the US market like steel, car makers and whiskey companies.
By calculating the value of exports to the US by region, the Department for Business and Trade has generated a map showing where will be hit hardest.
The west Midlands tops the list, exporting £8.5billion (15.5 per cent) to the USA, followed by the south east of England (£6.4billion / 11.8 per cent) and the east of England (£6.2billion / 11.2 per cent).
These stats are explained somewhat when looking at the location of Jaguar Land Rover’s manufacturing in Britain.
The UK car maker, which paused all exports to the US to work how to deal with tariffs, has plants across the Midlands in Solihull, Castle Bromwich, Whitley, Gaydon, Manchester, Wolverhampton and Halewood.
The factsheet also revealed what goods were being traded between the UK and US, confirming the dire economic outlook for the car industry.
The UK’s biggest most exported good was indeed cars with 78 million being exported to the USA (£8.3billion) in 2024 (up 16.9 per cent on 2023).
In second place was medicinal and pharmaceutical products (£7.2billion) followed by mechanical power generators (£5.2billion).
In terms of what Britain imported from the USA, crude oil led the way (£8.6billion), followed by mechanical power generators (£5.8billion) and medicinal and pharmaceutical products (£4.5billion).
The larger share of Anglo-American trade comes from services. The UK exported a whopping £52.3 billion of ‘Business Services’ to the USA last year, more than the total value of goods exported.
In second was Financial Services (£27.8billion) followed by Insurance and Pension services (£11billion).
In terms of what services Britain imported from the US, Business Services also led the way (£27.2 billion) followed by Travel (£7.5billion) and then Financial Services (£6.4 billion).
The stats mean the UK had a goods only trade surplus of £1.1billion, up from a trade deficit of £1billion in 2023.
The UK’s total trade surplus (including services) was £71.1 billion with United States, up by £5billion on 2023.
It comes after Donald Trump slapped the UK with a ten per cent tariff on most goods, a sanction that was relatively lighter than most other nations.
The EU was hit with a 20 per cent rate, meaning Brexit has handed Starmer a huge win in an ironic twist.
However, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has refused to admit that Britain escaping the worst of Donald Trump's tariffs is a Brexit benefit in his latest pro-EU outburst.
Lammy told Italian paper La Repubblica this morning: "We are facing a significant change in the way the global trading system works, but it has nothing to do with Brexit.
"We have been working intensively in recent weeks on a negotiation for a broader economic agreement with the United States, and these negotiations will continue."
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That came despite his Cabinet colleague Darren Jones declaring that the lower 10 per cent rate facing the UK was indeed a "Brexit dividend", telling Sky News that "I've struggled to find one in the past but there is one we've ended up with".
Lammy had previously declared that Brexit was a "national tragedy", a "con", a "trick", a "swindle" and a "fraud".
Fallout from Trump’s tariffs is being felt in markets around the world. In London, the FTSE 100 fell to its lowest level in a year - down by 6% at one point, while Asian stocks have seen their worst drop in decades.
Trump remains bullish however, telling people not to be "weak" or "stupid".
He also says tariffs - which are a tax on imports - are "bringing in billions of dollars a week", adding: “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Find Out More...
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have sent markets into freefall and damaged growth prospects for nations across the world, including Britain.
Indeed, the latest Trade and Investment Factsheet valued all Anglo-American trade during 2024 at £294billion, a small decrease of 2.3% or £6.8 billion on 2023.
Britain exported £182.6billion to the US during 2024, making it Britain’s biggest trading partner and accounting for 17.2 per cent of all our trade.
However, a huge £124billion (68 per cent) of Britain’s exports to the US came in the form of services, mostly financial, which are more difficult to tariff than a physical good.
Nevertheless, the remaining 32 per cent of Britain’s exports (£58billion- the same size as the entire defence budget) to the USA were goods.
This is what has sparked serious concern for companies manufacturing things for the US market like steel, car makers and whiskey companies.
By calculating the value of exports to the US by region, the Department for Business and Trade has generated a map showing where will be hit hardest.
The west Midlands tops the list, exporting £8.5billion (15.5 per cent) to the USA, followed by the south east of England (£6.4billion / 11.8 per cent) and the east of England (£6.2billion / 11.2 per cent).
These stats are explained somewhat when looking at the location of Jaguar Land Rover’s manufacturing in Britain.
The UK car maker, which paused all exports to the US to work how to deal with tariffs, has plants across the Midlands in Solihull, Castle Bromwich, Whitley, Gaydon, Manchester, Wolverhampton and Halewood.
The factsheet also revealed what goods were being traded between the UK and US, confirming the dire economic outlook for the car industry.
The UK’s biggest most exported good was indeed cars with 78 million being exported to the USA (£8.3billion) in 2024 (up 16.9 per cent on 2023).
In second place was medicinal and pharmaceutical products (£7.2billion) followed by mechanical power generators (£5.2billion).
In terms of what Britain imported from the USA, crude oil led the way (£8.6billion), followed by mechanical power generators (£5.8billion) and medicinal and pharmaceutical products (£4.5billion).
The larger share of Anglo-American trade comes from services. The UK exported a whopping £52.3 billion of ‘Business Services’ to the USA last year, more than the total value of goods exported.
In second was Financial Services (£27.8billion) followed by Insurance and Pension services (£11billion).
In terms of what services Britain imported from the US, Business Services also led the way (£27.2 billion) followed by Travel (£7.5billion) and then Financial Services (£6.4 billion).
The stats mean the UK had a goods only trade surplus of £1.1billion, up from a trade deficit of £1billion in 2023.
The UK’s total trade surplus (including services) was £71.1 billion with United States, up by £5billion on 2023.
It comes after Donald Trump slapped the UK with a ten per cent tariff on most goods, a sanction that was relatively lighter than most other nations.
The EU was hit with a 20 per cent rate, meaning Brexit has handed Starmer a huge win in an ironic twist.
However, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has refused to admit that Britain escaping the worst of Donald Trump's tariffs is a Brexit benefit in his latest pro-EU outburst.
Lammy told Italian paper La Repubblica this morning: "We are facing a significant change in the way the global trading system works, but it has nothing to do with Brexit.
"We have been working intensively in recent weeks on a negotiation for a broader economic agreement with the United States, and these negotiations will continue."
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That came despite his Cabinet colleague Darren Jones declaring that the lower 10 per cent rate facing the UK was indeed a "Brexit dividend", telling Sky News that "I've struggled to find one in the past but there is one we've ended up with".
Lammy had previously declared that Brexit was a "national tragedy", a "con", a "trick", a "swindle" and a "fraud".
Fallout from Trump’s tariffs is being felt in markets around the world. In London, the FTSE 100 fell to its lowest level in a year - down by 6% at one point, while Asian stocks have seen their worst drop in decades.
Trump remains bullish however, telling people not to be "weak" or "stupid".
He also says tariffs - which are a tax on imports - are "bringing in billions of dollars a week", adding: “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Find Out More...