Jaguar Land Rover has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as it works to “address the new trading terms” brought in under Donald Trump’s tariffs.
A 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into America came into force on Thursday, while a wider “baseline” 10% tariff on goods imported from around the world kicked in on Saturday morning.
The move from the British car firm comes as companies grapple with the new trade rules and the fallout on global stock markets.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will pause shipments to America in April as it develops mid-to-long-term plans.
In a statement on Saturday, 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 taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
UK and US businesses have expressed concerns about Trump’s sweeping tariffs, issued on what he called “Liberation Day” on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already taken calls from foreign leaders from Australia, Italy and France, with all agreeing that a trade war would be “extremely damaging” and in “nobody’s interests”.
Sir Keir and French president Emmanuel Macron agreed that “nothing should be off the table” during a call on Saturday, Number 10 said.
Issuing a readout of the call, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “They agreed that a trade war was in nobody’s interests but nothing should be off the table and that it was important to keep business updated on developments.
“The Prime Minister and president also shared their concerns about the global economic and security impact, particularly in South-East Asia.”
Following his conversations with the Prime Ministers of Australia and Italy, a spokesperson said the PM “has been clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest” and officials will “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”.
“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,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Trump has told Americans to “hang tough” and warned that the tariffs “won’t be easy”.
In a post on his TruthSocial platform, the president said: “We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before. Already, more than FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT, and rising fast! THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in central London as part of global demonstrations against Mr Trump’s administration.
Crowds in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon had banners with slogans such as “Dump Trump”.
Trading across the world has been hammered in the aftermath of the president’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 plummeted on Friday in its worst day of trading since the start of the pandemic, while markets on Wall Street also tumbled.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday — with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
London’s top stock market index shed 419.75 points, or 4.95%, to close at 8,054.98 on Friday — the biggest single-day decline since March 2020, when the index lost more than 600 points in one day. The Dow Jones fell 5.5% on Friday as China matched Mr Trump’s tariff rate.
Beijing said it would respond with its own 34% tariff on imports of all US products from 10 April.
