Trump to cut tariffs on British cars ‘very soon', minister suggests
Jonathan Reynolds said he is 'very hopeful' that the carve out agreed as part of the UK's new trade deal with the US will be implemented by the end of the week. He said an update was expected 'very soon'.
As part of the trade deal announced last month, the UK secured cuts to US tariffs on British cars from 25pc to 10pc for an agreed quota of 100,000 vehicles.
Mr Reynolds also said Britain is 'ready to go' on its side of the bargain, which will involve slashing tariffs on US beef and ethanol imports which are used to make biofuels.
While he has agreed a carve out for the UK, Mr Trump said on Thursday that he might increase tariffs on car imports more generally in the 'not too distant future'.
US auto shares slumped shortly after his remarks, with shares in Ford down 1.6pc and those for General Motors sliding 1.5pc.
The UK will be spared completely from levies on steel and aluminium, which rose to 25pc after Mr Trump kicked off his trade war in February.
At the time, Sir Keir Starmer hailed the ' historic deal ', claiming it would 'protect thousands of British jobs in key sectors including car manufacturing and steel'.
But it has still not been implemented more than a month later, with both Washington and London yet to take the necessary steps to put the plans into action.
Speaking at a lunch for Westminster journalists on Thursday, Mr Reynolds said he was 'hopeful' that the first changes would be in place by the end of the week.
It comes after the Business Secretary pushed for progress on the deal in talks with his US counterpart, Howard Lutnick, in Downing Street on Tuesday.
Asked when British carmakers could expect tariffs to be cut, Mr Reynolds said: 'Very soon.'
He added: 'Secretary Lutnik and I, with the Prime Minister, talked specifically about the institution of the automotive tariff reduction for the quota, which is part of our deal. And I am hoping to be able to update you all on that very soon.'
Pressed on whether the changes could be in place by the end of the week, and if Sir Keir would raise the issue with Mr Trump at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada, he said: 'I'm very hopeful. It was a specific area of conversation on Tuesday in that bilateral meeting.
'We are ready to go on our side. In terms of the steps I need to take, I will inform the House with a written ministerial statement and lay the statutory instruments for the reciprocal part of that deal, which is obviously about beef and ethanol for us on this side.
'So we're ready to go, and as soon as the president and the White House on their side are able to, we will implement that part of the deal.'
Mr Reynolds also defended the UK's nuclear submarine deal with the US and Australia after the Pentagon launched a review of the pact.
It emerged on Wednesday that the US was considering ending the Aukus agreement, signed to great fanfare in 2021, in a potential blow to a security alliance between the three countries.
Asked if he had concerns about the future of the deal, Mr Reynolds said: 'I would have a lot of confidence in anyone looking at the merits of that agreement and saying that is an incredibly strong and important agreement for the future.
'So if US colleagues want to look at it, ok, that's their right to do so. I think it is an incredibly compelling and strong agreement.'
Meanwhile, Mr Reynolds revealed that he had been cleared by the solicitors' regulator over claims he lied about his legal career.
The watchdog, which protects the public from bogus lawyers, launched an investigation into the Business Secretary earlier this year after it emerged he repeatedly described himself as a solicitor despite never qualifying.
Asked for an update on the probe, Mr Reynolds said: 'They came back shortly after that media period to say look, always be careful to be accurate, but there's no misleading here, and there's nothing else to look into.'
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