UK exports to US hit lowest level since January 2022 as tariffs bite, and economy shrinks – as it happened

UK exports to the US have fallen to their lowest level since January 2022, as Donald Trump’s trade war has hit demand for British goods.New trade data from the Office for National Statistics this morning shows that the value of UK exports to the US, including precious metals, fell by £500m or 11.4% in September.The ONS says:The value of goods exports to the United States in September 2025 were at their lowest level since January 2022 and have remained relatively low since the introduction of tariffs in April.This drop in trade comes despite the deal agreed by Donald Trump and Keir Starmer this summer, under which the UK aerospace sector faces no tariffs at all from the US, while the auto industry now has 10% tariffs, down from 25%

Liberty Steel being investigated in Romania for embezzlement

Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel is under investigation in Romania for embezzlement and tax evasion, adding to the metals tycoon’s difficulties after the loss of his key British operation.Romania’s prosecutor’s office said in a statement last week that they raided seven homes and the registered office of an unnamed company.Liberty Steel and its parent organisation, the Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance, said the company would “vigorously defend itself against the unfounded allegations directed at the company”.Gupta, who is Indian-born and UK-educated, was once known as the “saviour of steel” for his plans to turn around struggling metalworks. However, his empire, previously stretching through the UK, eastern Europe and Australia, has unravelled in the years since the collapse of the lender Greensill Capital in 2021

Scotland plans to issue £1.5bn of its own bonds – ‘kilts’ rather than gilts

The Scottish first minister John Swinney has said Edinburgh is on track to issue its own government bonds, nicknamed “kilts”, after the country was given the same credit rating as the UK.Two ratings agencies Moody’s and S&P Global gave Scotland a score of Aa3 and AA respectively, echoing their judgment for the UK as a whole.The jokey name for the new financial instruments is a play on gilts, as UK government bonds are known.In a statement, Moody’s said its rating was “supported by the well-established devolution framework” that Scotland operated under, “with a requirement to maintain a balanced budget and predictable grant allocation”. The ratings agency added that the Scottish National party (SNP) government had “demonstrated prudent fiscal management”

Oversupply of oil could create glut of 4m barrels a day, says energy watchdog

The world is producing more oil than it needs and by next year there could be a glut of 4m excess barrels a day entering the market, according to the global energy watchdog.The International Energy Agency said the surplus in 2026 was likely to be larger than previously forecast, despite a decision from the biggest oil producers to pause their plan to increase crude exports.The Paris-based agency, which was set up after the 1973 oil crisis to monitor global supplies, pointed to a slower-than-usual growth in the world’s oil demand to explain the growing glut.“Global oil market balances are looking increasingly lopsided, as world oil supply is forging ahead while oil demand growth remains modest by historical standards,” the IEA said.The warning of a looming oversupply has emerged in the same week that the agency published its energy outlook report, including a controversial scenario in which global oil demand would continue to grow until 2050

Burberry bosses urge Rachel Reeves to reinstate tax-free shopping for tourists

Bosses at Burberry have urged Rachel Reeves to reinstate a tax-free shopping scheme for tourists in the budget to “unlock further growth” and increase tourist spending.Executives at the British luxury brand called on the chancellor to pursue “progressive policies” to boost shopping sprees from tourists, pointing specifically to a value-added tax (VAT) refund programme for foreigners that was scrapped five years ago.Tax-free shopping was abolished at the end of 2020. The policy made a brief return under Liz Truss’s short-lived government in 2022 but was scrapped again weeks later by her successor as prime minister, Rishi Sunak.Burberry said the UK had been losing out ever since, with shoppers from the US, Middle East and Asia apparently flocking to Paris and Milan rather than London for luxury goods

Amid disappointing UK growth, how can Rachel Reeves escape the doom loop?

Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget is not simple: Britain’s economy is misfiring and things need turning around fast. Yet a fiscal consolidation on the scale the chancellor is expected to require could push in exactly the opposite direction.The latest figures from the economy are hardly encouraging. Growth slowed from 0.3% in the second quarter to just 0