US tariffs slash UK car exports in May: data
LONDON: British car exports to the United States slumped by over half in May in large part due to President Donald Trump's tariffs, data showed Friday, but are set to recover thanks to a US-UK trade deal.
Britain's automotive trade body SMMT said that exports of new vehicles fell more than 55 percent last month compared with May 2024.
Trump's tariffs on the auto sector, imposed in April, 'depressed demand instantly, forcing many manufacturers to stop shipments', it said.
'However, with the trade agreement... due to come into effect before the end of June, this should hopefully be a short-lived constraint.'
The agreement between London and Washington will slash the tariff on UK car exports to 10 percent from 27.5 percent, on a limit of 100,000 vehicles annually.
Almost 80 percent of cars made in the UK last year were exported, mostly to the European Union.
The UK auto sector is dominated by foreign-owned brands, including Japanese giant Nissan and India-owned Jaguar Land Rover.
The United States meanwhile is a key market for UK-produced luxury models such as Bentley and Rolls-Royce, which are both under German ownership.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Trading cards offer lifeline to low-income players
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2025 General view of tennis balls during Britain's Jack Draper's practice session REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -A nearly year-old initiative to sell tennis players' trading cards is generating vital extra income for lower earners struggling to make ends meet, its backers said. While the world's elite tennis players can earn fortunes, with Wimbledon for example offering a record 53.5 million pounds ($73.5 million) in prize money this year, those much further down the rankings often struggle financially. Winners Alliance, the commercial partner of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) which wants to address the financial disparities, said the new cards had generated around $20 million since they were rolled out in August. Some 70% of the income has gone to the 400 players signed up. "You have the 100th best player in the world and they're struggling to make a living," Eric Winston, president of Winners Alliance, told Reuters. "That's not right." Winners Alliance has teamed up with the Fanatics-owned Topps brand to produce trading cards for the next 20 years, hoping to emulate the huge popularity of such initiatives in other sports such as soccer and U.S. basketball. The cards, featuring current and former players, are sold online, at hobby shops and on site at big tournaments including the U.S Open and Australian Opens. The latest release on May 15th sold out in 24 hours. Founded in 2022, Winners Alliance, chaired by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, manages commercial opportunities for sports players and their agents. Its aim is to generate a recurring annual income of $100,000 for all ranked players from trading cards, video games and other income streams. "The level of players in the top 200 has never been so high... and some can barely make ends meet," said PTPA deputy executive director Romain Rosenberg, citing the example of a player near the top 100 who earned $25,000 one year after deducting taxes, coaching and other unavoidable costs. Rosenberg contrasted tennis with other sports such as football where even lower-tier players earn large salaries, often without the high costs tennis players face with coaching, travel and health expenses. "It is still early days but the aim is to emulate the success of U.S. basketball and baseball leagues... even reaching 10% of their revenue in five to 10 years would generate meaningful passive income for players," Rosenberg added. The PTPA, co-founded by players Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2020, has backed various efforts to level the playing field between the haves and have-nots of tennis, including legal aid and health programmes. Sports trading cards have enjoyed enduring popularity, buoyed by record-breaking sales such as a rookie card of baseball great Mickey Mantle fetching $12.6 million at auction in 2022. (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Mercedes talk of Verstappen is a lot of noise, says Horner
Formula One F1 - Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria - June 28, 2025 Red Bull's Max Verstappen ahead of qualification REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki SPIELBERG, Austria (Reuters) -Red Bull team boss Christian Horner dismissed talk of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes, maybe even next year, as just noise on Saturday and suggested that the four-times world champion was irritated by it. Mercedes have George Russell out of contract at the end of the year and both the British driver and team boss Toto Wolff have referenced the possibility of Verstappen becoming available at some point. "It's a lot of noise. I think Max gets quite annoyed by it and we are very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028," Horner told Sky Sports television after Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. "Anything is entirely speculative that is being said but we tend not to pay too much attention to it. "I can imagine that George is frustrated, he hasn't been given a contract yet. But that's between him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we're at, as does Max," he added. "Everything is subject to noise and within any contract it remains confidential between the parties." Verstappen is known to have a release clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if certain performance targets are not met. The Dutch driver is third overall in the championship, 43 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but qualified only seventh on Saturday for his team's home race at the Red Bull Ring with McLaren's Lando Norris on pole. Verstappen recognised he would not have been able to take pole position even without the yellow flags that forced him to abort his final effort. "FP3 (final practice) wasn't too bad but somehow in qualifying it just completely disappeared, there wasn't a single corner where I felt happy with the car," said the champion. "That is of course a big problem with qualifying. "Hopefully tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari or Mercedes. I don't know because with the balance that I had in quali, for sure that is not going to look great for tomorrow." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
China-Laos Railway sees over 10 billion yuan in trade value from Jan-May
KUNMING (Xinhua): The China-Laos Railway handled more than 2.48 million tonnes of import and export cargo valued at over 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) from January to May this year, customs data has showed . Both freight volume and value saw significant growth in this period, with a 7.9-per cent year-on-year increase in volume and a 33.2-per cent surge in value. In May alone, this railway transported 512,000 tonnes of goods worth 3.76 billion yuan -- setting a monthly record high since its opening in December 2021. Following its launch, the railway has experienced robust growth in cargo transport. As of May 22, total freight volume had surpassed 60 million tonnes, with cross-border shipments exceeding 13.9 million tonnes. The range of goods transported has expanded dramatically from just over 10 types initially to more than 3,000. These goods include electronics, photovoltaic products, communication equipment, automobiles, agricultural products, industrial goods and daily necessities. - Xinhua
