Latest news with #AstonMartins
New Statesman
16-07-2025
- Business
- New Statesman
No 10 is scrambling for a Silicon Valley payday
Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters It all turned on a decimal point.A shipping container of Aston Martins had been waiting off the American coast for the British government to strike a deal with the White House. The vehicle manufacturer was desperate for Keir Starmer to get Donald Trump to lower his 25 per cent tariff on British cars. In May, Trump finally agreed to drop the base tariff to 7.5 per cent. The only problem was that when the ship docked, a US customs official wrote down 75 per cent by mistake, leaving out the decimal point. The error was soon corrected, and British exporters have since smoothed over the chaos of getting their goods into the world's richest market. But other embassies up and down Massachusetts Avenue are anxiously waiting for a phone call from the White House. Trump put out a new deadline of 1 August for several countries to capitulate to fresh deals before those big tariffs from the package he announced on 2 April – 'Liberation Day' – hit. The cycle of threats and negotiations feels ceaseless. These pauses mean Trump is mocked by Wall Street with a teasing slogan coined by a Financial Times columnist: 'Trump Always Chickens Out', or Taco. Trump's penchant for cutting taxes on the rich and bombing the Middle East has led many commentators to muse he is 'Just Another Republican' (call them Jars, for short). But don't confuse Trump hitting pause with ditching protectionism. Few Jars would raise tariffs with the alacrity that Trump has. While Ronald Reagan deployed import quotas in some sectors, that Republican president believed the 'freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations'. Compare that to the fact that since Trump took office in January, the average tariff rate has soared from 2.5 per cent to 16.6 per cent. Those fixated on the constant delays and reversals forget that the general thrust of the policy is that tariffs are going up. Protectionism, like mass deportation, is one area in which this administration is ruthlessly consistent. All of which means the UK's deal from June grows more attractive by the day. It sparkles when compared to Vietnam's 20 per cent base rate, or the 30 per cent Trump has said he wants the European Union to pay. The Business Secretary and President of the Board of Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, is hoping to visit Washington soon for further negotiations, or at least to court American business. Photo ops to one side, Reynolds would likely be overshadowed by Ambassador Peter Mandelson and Starmer's éminence grise with business, Varun Chandra, the mysterious former Hakluyt chief who is frequently in town. All the politicking is leaving the Americans fed up of taking calls from British negotiators who are under pressure from No 10 to finalise awkward areas such as steel. Avoiding a cliff-edge for trade with other countries now takes precedence. Hadn't the Brits already got a deal, anyway? Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe The problem is that there is still much to thrash out. I understand the Trump administration is pushing for the NHS to charge UK providers more – for pharmaceuticals, for instance – in order to make American firms more competitive. Then there is the crowning deal on technology: the one part of these negotiations that isn't just mitigation but could actually advance Labour's governing agenda. Starmer and Rachel Reeves see an open invitation to Silicon Valley's tech companies as the ladder out of the country's terminal decline. Britain's saviour, in their mind, will arrive in robotic form. And if the options are either Chinese and American, then Labour will look west. Nonetheless, the deal is proving tricky to reach. I hear the hold-up is end-to-end encryption. The Washington Post reported in February that the UK government was trying to force Apple to open up users' encrypted data, including that of non-British citizens. But JD Vance, the US vice-president, who is negotiating with Mandelson, has resisted, backing the tech companies, ever keen to protect his old Valley buddies. Vance's position denudes the argument that these firms are apolitical, as if there is no cost to letting foreign companies become gatekeepers for the digital systems on which the UK operates. Vance clearly views these companies as American – does Labour? Remember it was Vance who refused to sign the communiqué at the Paris AI summit in February to protest against over-regulation. The UK dutifully followed suit. The government's claim that this had nothing to do with the American position should elicit a small chuckle. Look also to the tech-optimist, Innovation Secretary, Peter Kyle welcoming Google into the civil service last week. Much as the software company Palantir did during the pandemic, Google said it would provide its services to the UK for free, which meant the deal did not go out for tender. A marriage between Whitehall and Silicon Valley has become the mission by which this government wants to define itself. But a comprehensive tech deal with Washington remains elusive. The specific content is confused and ambiguous. The pressure on the ambassador, who always has one eye on the growing fissures back in Westminster, is mounting. On technology, the Brits are still circling off the coast, waiting for an agreement to be struck. [See more: Trump is serious about getting tough on Putin] Related
The Citizen
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
British beauties and more await Springs locals at Just Wheels open day
British beauties and more await Springs locals at Just Wheels open day Residents of Springs are invited to join the Just Wheels Club for a celebration of British motoring excellence at their open day on July 27. From the timeless elegance of classic Jaguars to the fierce roar of Aston Martins, the club's British Car Show will honour everything that makes these cars legendary. As always, the event will also showcase different vehicles – classic, custom, muscle, street rod, trucks and even trikes and bikes, and enthusiasts are invited to bring their own. There will be plenty of entertainment including music by DJ Eugene, a flea market, food stalls, children's entertainment and pony rides. A collection in aid of the SPCA will also be held, and donations of blankets, new or old (clean and in a good condition), and pet food will be gratefully received. No outside food or refreshments/alcohol is allowed, as well as no open fires. The Just Wheels bar will be open. Gates open at 09:00 and entrance is free. The club is located at 169 Kitzinger Avenue in Dalview. Call 082 263 7567 for more information. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Just Wheels Club salutes the best of British
Just Wheels Club salutes the best of British Join the Just Wheels Club for a celebration of British motoring excellence at their open day on July 27. From the timeless elegance of classic Jaguars to the fierce roar of Aston Martins, the club's British Car Show will honour everything that makes these cars legendary. As always, the event will also showcase different vehicles – classic, custom, muscle, street rod, trucks and even trikes and bikes, and enthusiasts are invited to bring their own. There will be plenty of entertainment including music by DJ Eugene, a flea market, food stalls, children's entertainment and pony rides. A collection in aid of the SPCA will also be held, and donations of blankets, new or old (clean and in a good condition), and pet food will be gratefully received. No outside food or refreshments/alcohol is allowed, as well as no open fires. The Just Wheels bar will be open. Gates open at 09:00 and entrance is free. The club is located at 169 Kitzinger Avenue in Dalview. Call 082 263 7567 for more information. ALSO CHECK: Brakpan SAPS Employee Health and Wellness celebrate fathers ALSO CHECK: Pool League inaugural season set the stage for Brakpan Pool Club members to shine At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
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. The 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. Sign in to access your portfolio
Hypebeast
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Hypebeast
Aston Martin Unveils First Bespoke Residence in Japan: N°001 Minami Aoyama
Summary Aston Martinhas revealed N°001 Minami Aoyama, its first custom-designed private residence in Asia, located inTokyo's prestigious Omotesandō neighborhood. Created in partnership with Japanese luxury developerVIBROA Inc., the four-storey townhouse reflects the brand's signature blend of craftsmanship, performance and design innovation. Spanning 724 m² (7,793 ft²), the home features a sculptural steel staircase, spa terrace, rooftop with Tokyo Tower views and a dramatic automotive gallery that showcases two Aston Martins like works of art. Designed by Aston Martin's in-house team, led by Marek Reichman, the residence channels the same attention to proportion, materiality and drama as the brand's cars. Inside, the home includes a private spa, golf simulator, wine cellar and Bowers & Wilkins audio system. Interiors are finished with Molteni&C furnishings, Hinoki wood spa cladding and black lava stone kitchens. The basement and rooftop create a spatial journey from dark to light materials, symbolizing retreat and renewal. N°001 Minami Aoyama follows Aston Martin's global expansion into real estate, joining projects in Miami and the UAE and marks another milestone in the brand's growth across Japan and Asia.
