Shiploads of cars ready to set sail for US from UK as trade deal kicks in
Shiploads of Minis, Aston Martins and Range Rovers will set sail for the US on Monday as the UK-US trade deal kicks in, but British farmers say they have been used as collateral to save the car industry.Auto shipments across the Atlantic were down more than half in May after Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25% tariff on 3 April on top of an existing 2.5% levy.However, as of one minute past midnight US time on Monday – 5am in the UK – that has been reduced to 10% for cars, and UK manufacturers expect pent-up demand to be unleashed.Aston Martin’s chief executive, Adrian Hallmark, said the luxury carmaker had stopped shipping between April and June, something he said had been “not catastrophic, but slightly uncomfortable”.
The outline of the trade deal was agreed between Trump and Keir Starmer in early May, the first such bilateral pact to mitigate the president’s import taxes.However, delays in agreeing the fine print meant the higher tariff had continued to apply, pushing the cost of British cars up by more than a quarter for US importers.Hallmark told a British car industry conference last week that he was “planning to invoice three months’ worth of sales in a 24-hour period”, with stocks in the US down by 50% due to the pause.Aston Martin exports 90% of its cars, but its customers are wealthy and were willing to wait.“The demand has been strong and will be in good shape when we start to invoice cars like fury on Monday next week,” he said.
On the eve of the trade deal coming into force, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, received reassurances from the sportscar maker Lotus that it had no plans to close its UK factory, in Hethel, Norfolk.Reynolds contacted Lotus bosses after it emerged that the carmaker was considering shifting production to the US – a move that would jeopardise 1,300 jobs.A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said Reynolds met Lotus and its owner, Geely, on Sunday to clarify the company’s situation, and “was reassured by management that they are committed to their UK operations and have no plans to close their Hethel plant”.A decision to relocate manufacturing abroad by a prestige brand such as Lotus would be embarrassing for the UK government.Labour’s industrial strategy, published last week, singled out automotive production as among the strategic sectors it wants to support.
The car industry welcomed the US-UK trade deal when it was struck, with it preventing job losses at JLR, the maker of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.Range Rovers are particularly popular in the US.However, the lower 10% duty only applies to a quota of 100,000 cars a year – slightly below last year’s export numbers – leaving little room for growth.JLR alone exported 84,000 cars in the year up to April 2025.The initial trade deal also included a promise of zero tariffs on steel but this has been held up by negotiations over the origin of some raw materials for smelting, particularly at Tata’s plant at Port Talbot in south Wales.
Concessions were won with new tariff-free quotas for British and US beef in each other’s markets, as well the controversial removal of a 19% tariff on American ethanol imports, which the UK industry says leaves biofuel plants facing closure.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe president of the National Farmers’ Union, Tom Bradshaw, said the government must stop using agriculture as a bargaining chip in talks and urged Starmer to take the sector off the table in the talks on steel and remove the 10% baseline tariff Trump has applied to all imports.“Agriculture has borne the responsibility of removing tariffs for other sectors.At some point they’ve got to stop relying on agriculture to take the burden,” Bradshaw said.“Agriculture has nothing left to give.
”On the upside for farmers, they can now sell 13,000 tonnes of British beef to the US, but again there is a catch.They will not be able to sell until January next year because beef is part of a wider tariff deal with other countries, and this year’s quota has already been filled by Brazilians who stockpile beef in storage near the Mexican border.The UK steel industry has at least won a temporary exemption from the 50% tariff imposed by Trump at the start of this month until 9 July, but it still faces a 25% tariff on exports.It is waiting anxiously for delivery of the promised zero rate tariff.“Time is running out to secure a UK-US steel deal and remove damaging tariffs,” said Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel.
“Every day of delay costs our steelmakers dearly,Contracts are being lost, investment decisions remain on hold, and uncertainty is paralysing business decisions,We urgently need a swift, positive resolution to these talks to protect jobs, unlock growth, and restore confidence in the sector,”Yet even in a zero-tariff deal, Port Talbot may still face issues,The UK operations of the Indian conglomerate are relying on imports of steel melted and poured in its sister plants in India and the Netherlands while they move from a polluting blast furnace to the greener electric arc furnace to smelt steel.
However, UK Steel is hoping there can be an exception to the tariffs agreed for the Welsh operation along with the five other plants in the UK.UK trade officials are understood to be optimistic they can secure such an exemption.
Carlos Alcaraz escapes first-round scare as Fabio Fognini tests his limits
Carlos Alcaraz said he was proud to have squeezed into the second round after struggling with his nerves and the heat on Centre Court during his dramatic five-set win against Fabio Fognini on Monday.In searing temperatures, Alcaraz started his pursuit of a third consecutive Wimbledon title by outlasting the veteran Italian 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 after 4hr 37min on-court.“I’m getting mature and I know how to deal with some situations,” the Spaniard said. “I always say that the champions always find a way. I really want to see myself in that [list] of champions
Emma Raducanu too strong for teenager Mimi Xu in British battle
“Come on Britain!” echoed through the sweltering 32C heat on No 1 Court as Emma Raducanu defeated Mimi Xu in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The all-British clash featured two players – attired similarly in matching outfits and golf visors – who captivated the home crowd.While Raducanu has been a fan favourite since her fairytale 2021 US Open triumph, the grand slam debutant Xu, ranked No 300 in the world, has impressed in junior circuits and shown significant promise on the senior tour.“It was an interesting dynamic today,” Raducanu said. “It is really awkward playing a Brit, especially someone younger
Farewell tradition, hello robots: Wimbledon adjusts to life without line judges
Sometimes progress registers simply as absence, and so it was on the opening day of Wimbledon this year when the pursuit of greater accuracy led to the disappearance of the tournament’s famous line judges.Electronic line calls are now in operation in SW19, bringing the championships into line with the grand slam tournaments in Melbourne and New York and also the ATP Tour. The French Open still uses line judges. But the shift to camera‑based, AI‑enhanced decision-making cuts deeper at Wimbledon, where up to 300 line judges have been a colourful part of the tournament’s ensemble cast for the past 147 years.With protests outside the gates (albeit with tongue in cheek) and ambivalence among fans, there were also unexpected reactions from players to the changes
Sibley hits 305 as Surrey break run record: county cricket day two – as it happened
On and on went big bad Dom. Past 200, past his highest previous score, past 250 and, with a sprinted single that left him spreadeagled in the Oval dust, to 300.Sibley clambered to his feet, raised his bat and soaked up the warm applause for a mammoth effort of concentration: 28 fours, two sixes and 472 balls of toil as the mercury rose. He joins an elite club of triple-centurions for Surrey at the Oval, in Mark Ramprakash, Kevin Pietersen, Bobby Abel, Jack Hobbs and Tom Hayward. At the other end, Dan Lawrence shimmied 174 and Will Jacks 119 as Surrey set their record first-class score, finally putting Durham out of their misery at 820 for nine
Wimbledon diary: strawberry sandwiches, pricey rackets and Oliver Tarvet’s expenses
“Where are the strawberries and cream?” was among the more unexpected questions for one of Wimbledon’s army of volunteer stewards as the crowd streamed through the gates on Monday morning, given that the answer is “absolutely everywhere you look”. It was a different story, though, at the local branch of Marks & Spencer, where 300 packs of the chain’s specially commissioned strawberry & crème sandwich, a staple food for influencers on Instagram and TikTok in recent days, ran out shortly after 9am. A sample did make it into the media room, however, and while strawberries “paired with whipped cream cheese on sweetened bread” might sound like the losing team’s product idea on week two of The Apprentice, it has to be said … it’s very edible.There was an air of genteel bedlam in the main Wimbledon shop as the first wave of merch-hungry tennis fans poured through the doors in search of SW19-branded booty. The demand for hats and towels was, not surprisingly, rather stronger than that for sweatshirts and hoodies, and no one at all seemed inclined to lug around one of the giant tennis rackets – designed to be hung on the wall, apparently – that are the most expensive single items in the shop at £600 a pop
Mystery swirls around Bumrah as unchanged England overlook Archer for second Test
One of the many delights of leafy south Birmingham is when an international cricket team is in town and residents stumble across them training on the Colts Ground at Edgbaston. Folks could be heading for a stroll in Cannon Hill Park, or their weekly shop at Aldi, only to suddenly find themselves watching Jasprit Bumrah let fly.Sadly, the fences were covered with tarpaulins after some hecklers over the weekend. There was a decent subplot playing out inside as India trained, too, over whether Bumrah will play the sold-out second Test that starts . Having bowled these past few days, the man himself offered a passing “hopefully”
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