Scottish salmon with pasta and mushrooms. US consumers bought less Scottish salmon in Q1.

Scottish salmon drops down export ranking as Trump's tariffs bite

Gareth Moore Gareth Moore editor
Published

The value and volume of Scottish salmon exports in the first quarter of this year fell by 40% and 39.4% respectively compared to the same period in 2025, new figures show.

And salmon exports to the United States, a key market, plummeted by 45.6% in both value and volume, although they were still worth £68m.

The figures are contained in the Food and Drink Federation’s Q1 2026 Trade Snapshot, released on Friday, which reported that the UK’s global food and drink exports fell 4.8% year-on-year to £5.7bn in Q1 2026, with food export volumes down 8.9%.

UK food and drink exports to the US fell 28% to £529.6m.

The UK’s trade deal with the US gave it an early advantage over some other countries when US president Donald Trump first introduced tariffs on imports, but that advantage was lost as the US struck similar deals with other countries, and a Supreme Court ruling reset most countries to the same 10% additional duty baseline.

UK's global food and drink exports: salmon, frequently the UK's most valuable food export, was relegated to sixth place in a strong quarter for red meat.
UK's food and drink exports to US: salmon remained the most valuable food export to the US in Q1, but couldn't match the same period last year.

“US tariffs are now clearly biting, with exports to the US falling 28% year on year to £529.6m. US imports into the UK rose 11.5% to £419.5m, collapsing the UK-US trade surplus by 69.3% to £110m,” reported FDF.

“A similar asymmetry is visible in EU-US trade, with EU exports to the US down 23.4% and US exports to the EU up 9.4%.”

While the value of fresh Atlantic salmon exported to the US went down, the value of tinned wild-caught salmon imported from the US increased by 331.1% to £22.6m.

Steady production levels

A spokesperson for trade body Salmon Scotland said: “We expect 2026 to be a strong year for Scottish salmon exports and remain confident in demand across key global markets.

“Production levels have stayed steady, and there are signs that more salmon is being sold at home, reflecting strong demand for the UK’s favourite fish.

“At the same time, global uncertainty has pushed up freight and insurance costs, making it more challenging to export to some markets.”

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