The United Kingdom is the European Union's second-largest trading partner, after the United States.

Omissions

• The ranking depends on the basis used: on goods alone China is by far the EU's largest source of imports (22.3% of extra-EU goods imports in 2025 vs 14.1% for the US, Eurostat), so China's total goods trade with the EU is of a similar order to the UK's; the 'second-largest' position is clearest when goods and services are combined and is stated on the Commission's DG Trade pages.
• DG Trade's headline figure cited on the UK page refers to 2024; 2025 data show the US still clearly first (€910.4 bn of goods trade) and the UK at about 10% of EU-27 goods trade, but the Commission's China page still lists China third for goods and services after the US and UK.
• The '41% of UK exports' figure covers goods and services and comes from UK (House of Commons Library) rather than EU sources; the MEP's own framing of 'second largest trading partner' is correct but the exact year of the ranking is not specified.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Commission — DG Trade, EU trade relations with the United Kingdom"In 2024, the UK was the EU's second-biggest trading partner (13.1%), after the United States (23.3%) but before China (10.7%)."
• PrimaryEuropean Commission — DG Trade, EU trade relations with China"China is the EU's third-largest trading partner for goods and services after the United States and the United Kingdom."
• PrimaryDestatis — The most important trading partners of the EU"The US are the most important trading partners of the European Union: in 2025, the EU and the US traded goods worth €910.4 bn" and "Other major trading partners of the EU-27 in 2025 were the United Kingdom (10%), Switzerland (7%) and Turkey (4%)"; "the US was the most common destination for goods exported from the EU (21%), with the United Kingdom ranked second (13%)".
• SecondaryHouse of Commons Library — Statistics on UK-EU trade"The EU is an important trade partner for the UK: in 2025, UK exports of goods and services to the EU were £384 billion (41% of all UK exports)."