British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have provided insightful commentary following the latest ONS trade data with head of policy William Bain pointing out that UK trade is heading along two distinct paths

“There is a steady rise in services, which already account for more than half of UK exports, but trade in goods remains in flux. Manufacturers are still adjusting to the new realities of global trade policy and uncertainty around further tariffs remains high.

Flat
“Trade in goods with the US has plunged since higher tariffs were introduced. The full impact of the US de minimis exemption removal is yet to be fully reflected in the data and is weighing heavily on UK traders. In many sectors, trade in goods with the EU and other non-EU countries also stayed flat during August.

Fragile
Bain continued: “Growth remains fragile and more needs to be done to leverage new and upgraded trading terms with the US, the EU and Indo-Pacific regions to boost our export performance.”

BCC’s Budget submission calls upon government to implement customs reforms and trade accelerators to make goods trade simpler, cheaper and faster with key UK markets.

Services
UK services exports maintained a steady rate of increase, with 0.45 per cent month-on-month and 6.26 per cent year-on-year increases in volumes in August.
Services imports to the UK increased by 0.36 per cent month-on-month in August and 3.39 per cent year-on-year.

Goods
By contrast, the volume of UK goods exports fell by 2.7 per cent month-on-month in August with a reduction to the EU of four per cent, and non-EU countries of 1.6 per cent.
Imports of goods from the EU rose by 1.44 per cent month-on-month. There was a 1.16 per cent increase in goods imports from the rest of the world.

UK goods exports to the US continue to fluctuate as firms adjust to trade policy and supply chain developments. Month-on-month and year-on-year UK goods export values to the US were down 13.46 per cent.

UK imports of goods from the US were down 8.89 per cent in August month-on-month in value terms, with a reduction of 6.81 per cent compared with a year ago.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/august2025