Dutch exports to US plummet 25% as tariffs bite

Exports from the Netherlands to the United States fell by 25% in the first half of this year, knocking the US out of the top five destinations for Dutch goods.

Dutch companies sold €13 billion worth of goods to the US between January and June, €4.3 billion less than in the same period last year, figures from national statistics office CBS show. The decline began after the Trump administration imposed a general import tariff of 15% on goods from the EU in August last year.

Almost every type of product was affected. Machinery and transport equipment, the biggest category of Dutch exports to the US, accounted for nearly half the fall. Sales of medicines and other chemical products dropped by more than 30%, and manufactured goods such as medical instruments fell by almost a quarter.

As a result, the US now takes 4% of Dutch goods exports, down from 5.5% a year earlier. Italy has overtaken it as the fifth-biggest market, with Spain also catching up. Exports to Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and Italy all rose over the same period.

Trade in the other direction has grown – imports from the US were up 19% to €27.6 billion, although most of that increase was oil and other fuels, which have become more expensive because of the conflict in the Middle East. Other kinds of imports rose by 6.7%.

The tariffs have been costly for the US as well. The country’s Supreme Court ruled in February that most of the levies Donald Trump introduced last year were illegal, and Dutch companies are now claiming back more than €1 billion in duties.

Philips has already received €186 million, and Heineken and Ahold Delhaize are expected to recover hundreds of millions between them.

In 2024, before the tariffs were introduced, the Netherlands exported more than €38 billion worth of goods to the US, nearly 6% of all its exports.