'Coventry worst hit' by US tariffs

Yahoo

09-04-2025

Coventry has been ranked as the UK city likely to be the worst hit by tariffs imposed by the United States, according to a recent study.
Data conducted by the Centre for Cities thinktank estimated it would be most significantly affected because of its existing car manufacturing industry.
President Donald Trump announced the sweeping set of tariffs last week, including a 10% tax on nearly all UK imports and 25% on British cars.
Industry experts fear the move could lead to job losses, but city councillor Jim O'Boyle said the city was "resilient".
"Coventry will recover from this, we are not in a position where we are losing jobs," he said.
"Nobody knows how this is going to end up, but we are resilient and highly-skilled."
The Centre for Cities data said Coventry was most exposed to the tariffs because 22.1% of its total exports were estimated to be goods to the US.
This was followed by Derby at 19.9%, Telford at 17.3% and Worthing at 15.3%.
In neighbouring Birmingham, the figure was 13.1%, making it eighth on the list of most-affected cities.
Coventry is home to Jaguar Land Rover, which employs thousands at its sites across the West Midlands.
The manufacturer announced on Saturday it would pause shipments to the US in April as it worked to "address the new trading terms".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visited its Solihull factory on Monday and told workers: "We are going to back you to the hilt."
The West Midlands region is also home to a large machinery and transport sector, including companies that supply the car manufacturing industry.
A Centre for Cities spokesperson said the thinktank had combined ONS data on regional exports to the US with local authority job statistics to come up with its rankings.
"Coventry stands out for its high share of exports in automotive and metals that go to the United States," they said.
"Other cities with a strong automotive sector, such as Sunderland and Liverpool, do not rely as much on the US for their sales."
David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at the University of Birmingham, said Trump's tariffs posed a "genuine risk" to the area's automotive industry.
He said: "We could see some plants close, not in the West Midlands, but maybe in other parts of the country which could affect the supply chain in the West Midlands."
Prof Bailey added he hoped a quick deal could be made on automotive tariffs.
"I don't think anybody is prepared for this scale of shock," he said.
"If the tariffs remain in place, the automotive industry will have to think about raising prices in the US, about dealer's margins getting squeezed, but at some point there's going to be a hit back in the UK in terms of productions and jobs."
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O'Boyle said he hoped plans to expand Coventry's UK Battery Industrialisation Centre to move quickly towards electronification would be sped up following the announcements.
"One of the things missing in the UK as a whole is our ability to produce our own batteries. They are imported from Europe, China or America, and we need to build them here," he said.
"We have got to invest now to support the future going forward.
"The tariffs are stupid, where countries succeed is by working together. We need to open borders, not close them."
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Centre for Cities
West Midlands Combined Authority
UK Battery Industrialisation Centre