U.S.-EU Trade Interdependence: Diverging Trends Since the Global Financial Crisis

Since the Global Financial Crisis, trade between the U.S. and the European Union has followed divergent trends relative to each economy's GDP. The EU’s trade with the U.S. as a share of GDP increased, reaching 4.8% in 2024, while the U.S. trade with the EU declined to 3.4% of GDP. This gap—where the EU’s trade dependence on the U.S. is 44% higher—has been further intensified by the economic shifts following the Ukraine war.