Car firms and consumers ‘breathing sigh of relief’ after UK-US trade deal

8 May 2025, 17:53

Car manufacturers and UK consumers will be “breathing a sigh of relief” after Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump struck a US-UK trade agreement, industry bosses have said.

UK car manufacturers, such as Jaguar Land Rover, welcomed the deal, which included lower tariffs for the sector.

Elsewhere, the UK’s steel industry said the removal of tariffs on exports will be a “major relief”.

President Trump had previously announced a 27.5% tariff charge on cars but said this will fall to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the US.

Meanwhile, a proposed 25% charge on steel has been scrapped entirely.

Read more: Trump and Starmer hail ‘historic day’ as details of 'great' US-UK trade deal revealed

However, there will still be a blanket 10% tariff on the majority of UK exports to the US.

Last year, the UK exported £59 billion of goods to the US, which made up about 16% of all British exports during the period, according to the ONS.

Manufacturing trade body Make UK said the deal will provide “immediate relief” to firms across the UK.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the group, said: “Industry will welcome this announcement which is a recognition that the Government was right not to overreact and pursue a mature, calm and pragmatic approach to negotiations.

“This has paid dividends by providing immediate relief to some of our most important and strategic manufacturing sectors which provide many thousands of highly skilled jobs which will now be protected.”

UK Steel director general, Gareth Stace, said: “This deal will offer major relief to the UK steel sector at a time when it is battling numerous other challenges, not least global overcapacity, high energy costs and weak demand.”

The UK’s auto industry is also expected to be a major beneficiary of the deal, despite still facing some tariffs.

The Bank of England said earlier on Thursday that nearly £10 billion worth of exports from the car industry could be impacted by US tariff plans.

Adrian Mardell, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “The car industry is vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, sustaining 250,000 jobs.

“We warmly welcome this deal which secures greater certainty for our sector and the communities it supports.”

Ian Plummer, commercial director of Auto Trader, added: “Both consumers and UK car manufacturers will be breathing a sigh of relief at a deal that staves off the worst impact of damaging tariffs on one of our biggest industries, in its biggest single global market.

“We’ve stepped back from the brink here and we welcome the clarity and certainty this brings.”

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick also said that British-made Rolls-Royce engines would be excluded from tariffs. Shares in the engineering giant jumped 3.7% on Thursday as a result.

Meanwhile, he also said that a UK has agreed to buy “10 billion worth of Boeing planes later today”.

Ian Stuart, chief executive of HSBC UK, said: “Today’s agreement between the US and UK will bring economic benefits to both countries.

“The US remains the UK’s largest bilateral trading partner and we’ve seen a 24% increase in the value of trade payments in both directions over the last year.

“This agreement will build on that momentum.”