
Relief for Britain's car industry as it is confirmed Trump tariffs will be cut from 27.5% to 10%
Britain's car industry has been given a boost after it was confirmed that US tariffs will be cut from Monday next week.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order, taking effect on June 30, which means the sector will escape the levies being imposed on car makers in other countries.
Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin will face charges of 10 per cent rather than 27.5 per cent – though that is still higher than the pre-Trump level of 2.5 per cent.
It is also thought a deal on aerospace – which will see firms such as Rolls-Royce go back to exporting to the US tariff-free instead of facing a levy of 10 per cent – will come into force on Monday.
But the steel industry – part of the original agreement – has been left in limbo with agreement on a zero tariff deal yet to be reached.
Mike Hawes, boss of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: 'It's not as good as the 2.5 per cent we had – but it's a damn site better than 27.5 per cent.'
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There have been "a number of occasions" of significant positions in nearby prompt dates and the special committee has "at times" directed holders to reduce them "relative to prevailing stock levels," the LME said. And there's the rub. There's not much stock of either copper or aluminium. LME copper stocks have shrunk by 65% to 94,675 tons since the start of 2025 with the amount of available tonnage at a two-year low of 54,525 tons. This is not due to diminished global availability but rather reflects a massive redistribution of global inventory. Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump launched a so-called Section 232 national security investigation into U.S. copper imports in February, physical metal has been flowing to the United States to capitalise on the premium commanded by the CME's U.S. customs-cleared copper contract over the LME's international product. U.S. imports of refined copper jumped to more than 200,000 tons in April, the highest monthly arrival rate this decade. 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But given the growing mismatch between position size and available inventory, the LME is doubling down on precedence to try and avert another crisis. The problem is that smoothing out what the LME deems distortions in the exchange's price-setting function may reduce the financial incentive for metal to be delivered to what is supposed to be the market of last resort. Assuming, of course, it's neither Russian aluminium nor copper on its way to the United States. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters