According to the UK Department for Business and Trade, the UK generated a trade surplus of £71bn during the four quarters ended 30 September 2024, being the difference between seasonally adjusted numbers for exports of £182bn from the UK to the US less imports from the US into the UK of £111bn. 

As our chart of the week highlights, goods exports to and imports from the US comprised £58bn and £56bn respectively, while services exports to and imports from the US were £124bn and £55bn.

The trade surplus with the US of £71bn for the year to September 2024 can be analysed between a surplus on goods of just under £2bn and a surplus on services of slightly more than £69bn, according to the statistics collected by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The £2bn surplus on goods in favour of the UK contrasts with the corresponding US statistics, which report a trade surplus in goods in favour of the US of $12bn (£9bn) in 2024, based on exports from the US to the UK of $80bn (£62bn) less imports from the UK into the US of $68bn (£53bn).

According to non-seasonally adjusted data from the ONS, goods exports to the US in the four quarters to September 2024 totalled £60bn (£2bn more than the £58bn shown in the chart), comprising £37bn in manufactured goods (including £8bn cars, £5bn engines and £2bn aircraft), £7bn pharmaceuticals, £5bn other chemicals, £3bn metals, £3bn food, drink and tobacco, £3bn oil, and £2bn other goods and materials.

Meanwhile non-seasonally adjusted data on goods imports from the US in the same period of £57bn (£1bn more than in the chart) comprised £25bn manufactured goods (including £6bn engines, £3bn aircraft and £1bn cars), £15bn oil and gas, £4bn pharmaceuticals, £4bn other chemicals, £2bn metals, £1bn food, drinks and tobacco, and £6bn of other goods and materials.

The US is the UK’s biggest individual trading partner, with exports to the US representing 22% of total UK exports (goods: 16% of total goods exports; services: 27% of total services exports) and imports representing 13% of total imports (goods: 10% of total goods imports; services: 19% of total services imports).

These numbers compare with the UK’s trade with the EU in the year to September 2024, where exports to the EU were £346bn or 41% of total exports (goods: £178bn or 48% of total goods exports; services: £168bn or 36% of total services exports) and imports from the EU were £445bn or 52% of total imports (goods: £312bn or 55% of total goods imports; services: £133bn or 45% of total services imports).

The UK government was no doubt relieved to have ‘only’ been targeted with 10% tariffs by President Trump. It will also be hopeful that the position of both the UK and US believing they have a small surplus in their goods trade with each other will help in the negotiations for a UK-US trade deal that could potentially see those tariffs lifted.

The government will also be hoping that the global trade war on goods doesn’t affect the UK’s services trade too much, given its importance as an export earner.