Responding to the latest ONS data on trade, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said: 

“There are clear signs that UK firms increased goods exports to the US ahead of the introduction of tariffs. Data for the past three months shows a 23% increase in the value of goods flowing from the UK across the Atlantic.

“Looking more widely, while overall exports grew in February, the rate of growth slowed substantially. It was a static month for our international trade in services, and goods exports to the EU fell. This was counterbalanced to a degree by 2.5% month-on-month growth, in volume terms, to rest of the world.

“This muted trade performance reflects the growing global uncertainty on trading conditions. With the effects of new US tariffs still reverberating around the world, UK firms will need resilience and agility to respond.

“Securing a deal with the US, removing trade barriers with the EU, and maximising potential in Indo-Pacific markets will be key to cushioning the negative impacts of the sweeping new US tariffs.”

Export Growth

UK goods exports had a second consecutive month of growth, powered by a rise in exports to the US ahead of the introduction of tariffs on steel and aluminium products on 12 March. Exports to the US rose for the third consecutive month – by a further £0.4bn in February to £5.9bn in value terms.

But overall trade growth slowed during February. Removing the effects of inflation, total UK exports in goods rose by 1.1%, compared to 3.5% in January 2025. Services exports were relatively flat, with a modest 0.24% rise in volumes.  This is down from growth of 2.3% in January.

Non-EU goods exports rose by 2.5% in February, while sales to the EU fell by 0.4%, compared with 1.3% growth the previous month

Services Imports Fall

Total services import volumes into the UK fell by 0.8% in February. Goods imports from the EU rose by 7% in volume terms, while those from non-EU countries experienced a less steep increase, rising by 3%.

More detail on the ONS data can be found here.