Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will pause shipments of its UK-made cars to the US for a month as it considers how to mitigate the cost of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The 25% tariff imposed by the US on imported cars and light trucks took effect on 3 April.
A JLR spokesperson said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands. As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are enacting our short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid to longer-term plans.”
JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, is one of Britain’s biggest producers, selling 400,000 Range Rover Sports, Defenders and other models annually.
Exports to the US account for almost a quarter of those sales and JLR is at the centre of Britain’s car industry, accounting for £1 in every £8 of the country’s exports.
The Sunday Times reported that JLR is thought to have a couple of months’ supply of cars already in the US, which will not be subject to the new tariffs. Shipping vehicles across the Atlantic takes about 21 days.
A pause in shipments will add to fears over the impact of tariffs on Britain’s car industry, which employs about 200,000 people in manufacturing.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank has said more than 25,000 direct jobs in the car manufacturing industry could be at risk as exports to the US are predicted to fall.
The US is the second biggest importer of British-made cars after the European Union, with nearly a 20% share, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows.
On Wednesday, Trump announced tariffs on other goods from countries across the globe, upending global trade.
The FTSE 100 plummeted on Friday in its worst day since the Covid pandemic.
Britain has said it is focused on trying to secure a trade deal with Washington.
Keir Starmer is expected to spend the weekend speaking to foreign leaders about the tariffs, after calls with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday in which the leaders agreed that an all-out trade war would be “extremely damaging”.
After the announcement of the tariffs, Mike Hawes, the SMMT chief executive, said: “The announced imposition of a 10% tariff on all UK products exported to the US, whilst less than other major economies, is another deeply disappointing and potentially damaging measure.
“Our cars were already set to attract a punitive 25% tariff overnight and other automotive products are now set to be impacted immediately.
“While we hope a deal between the UK and US can still be negotiated, this is yet another challenge to a sector already facing multiple headwinds.”
