EU-US goods trade hits record 875 billion euros in 2025 as auto exports slump
German carmakers are absorbing the cost of the tariff fight even as EU-US goods trade hit a record 875 billion euros in 2025. A German Economic Institute study finds EU car exports to the US fell 20.4%, Germany 18.9%, while Ireland's pharma exports jumped 52.7%.
German carmakers are absorbing the cost of the transatlantic tariff fight, even as the headline numbers suggest business as usual. Trade in goods between the European Union and the United States reached a record 875 billion euros in 2025, according to a new study from the German Economic Institute (IW). EU exports to the US climbed 7.7% to 580 billion euros, while imports from the US rose 2.2% to 295 billion, widening the EU surplus to nearly 285 billion euros. The record masks uneven damage. Part of the increase came from companies front-loading shipments before US tariffs took effect in April, pulling future sales forward rather than reflecting fresh demand. The auto sector took the sharpest hit: EU car and parts exports to the US dropped 20.4% over the year, with Germany, which accounts for close to two-thirds of those exports, down 18.9%. Not every economy moved the same way. Ireland recorded a 52.7% surge in exports, driven by pharmaceutical and chemical products that remain exempt from the new tariffs. Transatlantic services trade also set a record at 865 billion euros, where the EU ran a deficit of 178 billion euros.