UK seafood sellers to the US -- largely Scottish salmon suppliers -- will likely be relieved that overall trade data counts in their favor, with Donald Trump putting tariffs on key partners he has a deficit with.

As Trump confirmed the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% additional on China, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Feb. 1 that the UK is the benefit of a statistical quirk, which means both it and the US report trade a surplus with each other.

read also

China criticizes new US tariffs, will challenge them with WTO

"Using America’s own trade data provides a shared and strong foundation when engaging in discussions with our American friends,” one senior British official told the FT, as Trump also threatens tariffs on the EU.

Using the Undercurrent News trade portal, you can see both UK and US data show that, on seafood, the US has a deficit with its smaller partner.

Looking under the 03 harmonized system (HS) code, which covers the bulk of all trade between the two countries, US data shows 15,861 metric tons of imports from the UK worth $210.69 million for the first 11 months of 2024.

Meanwhile, the US data shows exports of $36.78m to the UK under HS 03, so a deficit of $173.91m.

The UK's own data shows exports to the US at $343.93m and 32,293t under HS 03, then imports of $62.37m, so a surplus of $281.56m.

Looking at US imports from the UK by product type, the bulk is fresh Scottish salmon under HS 030214.

For US exports to the UK, the main trade flow is frozen salmon fillets, which will mainly be Alaskan, under HS 030481, then prepared and preserved (smoked) salmon (which will mainly be Alaskan) under HS 160411 and frozen pollock fillets under HS 030475.