9:51 am, May 15, 2025
The automotive industry needs the finer details of the new UK-US trade deal to be sorted ‘urgently’ in order to see off an ‘existential threat’.
That is the verdict of SMMT chief Mike Hawes, who says that low volume retailers in particular are currently facing an uncertain future.
It comes after President Trump announced a wide-sweeping set of tariffs earlier this year, which included a 27.5% tax on cars imported from outside America.
Car Dealer reported last week that a deal between the UK and America had been announced, reducing the rate of tax to 10 per cent on the first 100,000 vehicles imported from Britain.
However, negotiations remain ongoing and either side could cancel the deal by providing a written statement to other nation.
It is believed that several months of negotiations lie ahead, leaving carmakers in a state of limbo.
In response to the situation, the SMMT says it is important to have a tariff deal in place as car companies ‘have vehicles ready to ship’ and that they ‘don’t know where they will be with pricing’ without it.
Speaking to the media today, Hawes said: ‘Getting a deal was absolutely vital for the industry.
‘The industry, those particular [small volume] companies which are going to face an existential threat. Now not all the details have been completed, but the tariff will reduce from 27.5% down to 10% in total.
‘There will be a quota of 100,000 vehicles, but exactly how that’s allocated is still to be determined.
‘Last year we exported 101,107 vehicles, so you can see the logic.’
He added: ‘Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that the UK industry and the exports we make to the US are not in competition with US manufacturing.
‘I think it’s a fair deal, but a tremendous amount of credit must be given to the UK government not only to get a deal, but to be first in line to get a deal and to put automotive at the very top of their list of priorities.’
