Jaguar Land Rover pauses US shipments as Starmer plots course over Trump’s 10% tariff | EUROtoday

Jaguar Land Rover is pausing shipments to the US as it really works to “address the new trading terms” within the wake of Donald Trump’s 10 per cent tariff on British items coming into pressure.

Sir Keir Starmer was anticipated to spend the weekend making back-to-back cellphone calls to world leaders concerning the tariffs, after speaking with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Italian PM, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday. In these calls the leaders agreed that an “all-out trade war would be extremely damaging”.

Sir Keir was “clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest” and officers would “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”, a No 10 spokesperson stated.

On Saturday afternoon, Jaguar stated it was “taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans”.

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JLR confused that the US is an “important market” for its automobiles, and the tough determination comes as companies proceed grappling with the brand new commerce guidelines, and the fallout on the worldwide inventory markets.

The prime minister has thus far been reluctant to retaliate after Mr Trump imposed the tax on UK exports to the US, promising as an alternative to take a “cool-headed and pragmatic approach” to the battle.

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And, with enterprise teams backing the PM’s method thus far, he’s holed up this weekend on diplomatic calls as world leaders coordinate their response to the tariffs.

The customary 10 per cent US tariff on items imported from world wide got here into impact shortly after 5am on Saturday UK time. Other nations will see their tariff charges improve above that subsequent week, together with the EU, which will likely be hit with a 20 per cent price.

A 25 per cent tax on all imported automobiles got here into impact on Thursday.

The begin of what guarantees to be a commerce battle noticed the FTSE 100 endure its worst day for the reason that begin of the pandemic, falling 4.95 per cent on Friday. Global markets additionally tumbled, with Wall Street’s Dow Jones index dropping 5.5 per cent and European and Australian shares plummeting.

In the most recent of his calls with world leaders, Sir Keir spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, with the pair agreeing a commerce battle “is in nobody’s interests”.

But, in an indication the pair are ready to ramp up their response to the US president, a Downing Street spokesman stated they agreed “nothing should be off the table”.

The spokesperson added: “The prime minister and president also shared their concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South East Asia.”

Downing Street additionally stated that in Sir Keir’s talks with Mr Albanese and Ms Meloni on Friday, he had “been clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest”.

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A spokesperson stated officers will “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”.

The spokesperson added: “He discussed this approach with both leaders, acknowledging that while the global economic landscape has shifted this week, it has been clear for a long time that like-minded countries must maintain strong relationships and dialogue to ensure our mutual security and maintain economic stability.”

Sir Keir will make additional calls to counterparts world wide over the weekend, whereas talks a couple of commerce cope with the US are ongoing.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds stated he hopes a brand new commerce settlement with the US will see the ten per cent tariff price on the UK lowered or dropped altogether. Officials had hoped a deal may very well be struck earlier than the tariffs got here into pressure, however will proceed making an attempt to strike a deal within the coming days and weeks.

Mr Reynolds additionally warned ministers will take a look at “possible retaliatory action” as officers work by way of 417 pages of merchandise they may goal in a listing that features all the things from bourbon whiskey to motorbikes.

Mr Reynolds, who set a deadline of early May for the session, stated any motion could be “paused” if a commerce deal was struck.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated on Friday the federal government is “determined to get the best deal we can” with Washington.

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“Of course, we don’t want to see tariffs on UK exports, and we’re working hard as a government in discussion with our counterparts in the US to represent the British national interest and support British jobs and British industry,” the chancellor stated.

The Liberal Democrats have stated that the federal government’s “attempts to appease the White House” will not be working, and referred to as on ministers to coordinate a response with allies.

“We need to end this trade war as quickly as possible,” Lib Dem overseas affairs spokesman Calum Miller stated.

He added: “The best way to end this crisis is to stand shoulder to shoulder with our European and Commonwealth friends. We must coordinate our response and strengthen our trading relations with our reliable allies. That’s how we can protect our economy from Trump’s bullying.”

In a put up on TruthSocial, Mr Trump stated the United States wanted to “hang tough” within the face of the commerce modifications.

“Big business is not worried about the Tariffs, because they know they are here to stay, but they are focused on the BIG, BEAUTIFUL DEAL, which will SUPERCHARGE our Economy,” he wrote.