Jaguar Land Rover halt shipments to US over Trump tariffs on cars

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by India’s Tata Motors on Saturday announced plans to pause shipments of its British-made vehicles to the United States for a month as it figures out the implications of the 25% tariffs on cars imposed by President Donald Trump.

“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,” the company said.

JLR is a car industry in the United Kingdom that employs about 200,000 people. According to the wire report, the U.S. is the second-largest importer of British-made vehicles after the European Union.

As one of the U.K.’s biggest producers by volume, JLR said in its statement that the U.S. was an important market for its luxury brands.

JLR sells 400,000 Defenders, Range Rover Sports and other models each year, though exports to the U.S. make up about a quarter of the company’s sales.

Trump Tariffs on cars

The U.S President unveiled his latest tariff plan on April 2, imposing a 25% tariff on imported cars and trucks, which took effect the next day. Trump also announced tariffs on other goods from countries across the globe.

The Trump administration’s tariff plan leveled a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports to the U.S., while customized tariffs were set for countries that have higher tariffs in place on American goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% took effect on Saturday, while the other tariffs will take effect on April 9.

Trump pointed to the European Union during his announcement and said the U.S. will charge the EU a 20% tariff, compared to its 39% tariffs on the U.S. He also added that the U.S. will impose a 24% tariff on Japan, compared to the 46% tariff Japan places on the U.S. and a 34% tariff on China, compared to the 67% tariff China charges the U.S.

The customized tariffs, Trump explained, would not be full reciprocal tariffs, as his administration was “very kind” and leveled tariffs that are roughly half of what a particular nation was charging the U.S. on tariffs. 

“For nations that treat us badly, we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, non monetary barriers and other forms of cheating,” Trump said Wednesday. 

“And because we are being very kind, we will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” he said. “So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that, yes, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries.”