Dutch exports to United States dropped 4.7% in first ten months of 2025

Dutch goods exports to the United States fell 4.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2025 compared with a year before, while imports from the U.S. rose nearly 2 percent, according to new figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

The Netherlands exported goods worth 27.5 billion euros to the United States through October 2025, down from 28.9 billion euros in the same period of 2024. Over the same period, the value of goods imported from the U.S. reached about 48.1 billion euros, an increase of 1.9 percent year over year, CBS reported.

The decline in exports began in July 2025. Until then, the value of Dutch goods exports to the U.S. had been rising. From July through October, exports were lower each month than in the corresponding months of 2024. In October alone, exports to the U.S. totaled 2.22 billion euros, down from 3.25 billion euros a year earlier.

CBS said the overall drop was driven primarily by an 8 percent decline in exports of goods made in the Netherlands. Re-exports — goods produced abroad and shipped via the Netherlands — increased by 3.9 percent over the same period.

Exports of mineral fuels showed the sharpest decline. Compared with 2024, the Netherlands exported 2.2 billion euros less in mineral fuels to the U.S., a drop CBS attributed in part to lower fuel prices. Exports of chemical products also fell, by nearly 300 million euros.

Exports of machinery and transport equipment, including specialized machinery, ships and boats, increased in the first half of 2025 for both Dutch-made goods and re-exports. From August onward, however, the export value of machinery declined, mainly due to lower exports of Dutch products. CBS said exports of ships and boats are often influenced by a small number of large, incidental transactions.

By category, exports of machinery and transport equipment to the U.S. totaled 11.9 billion euros in 2025, compared with 11.2 billion euros a year earlier. Chemical products declined to 4.6 billion euros from 4.9 billion euros. Exports of mineral fuels fell sharply to 1.9 billion euros from 4.1 billion euros.

On the import side, CBS said the higher overall value was mainly due to increased imports of machinery, transport equipment and chemical products from the United States.

Imports of mineral fuels declined, both in volume and price, reducing their import value by nearly 1.5 billion euros compared with the same period in 2024. The Netherlands also imported fewer manufactured goods from the U.S., including scientific and professional instruments.