Staff at the UK’s high-end car plants could lose their jobs unless the government steps in with financial assistance such as furlough schemes to offset Donald Trump’s tariffs, the automotive industry has warned.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the tariffs were having a “severe, significant and immediate” impact on luxury marques such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren that depend on wealthy American consumers.
Britain’s car industry is heavily reliant on exports to Europe but it is also exposed to the 25 per cent tariff the US president has imposed on imports of all foreign-made cars because the US is the largest market for the UK’s high-end brands.