The British government eased its targets for the production of electric vehicles yesterday in an attempt to offer a reprieve to an automotive industry that was slapped with a 25% tariff on U.S. exports on last week.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday that his government’s new measures would allow auto manufacturers to sell full hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles until 2035 and see a reduction in fines if they cannot comply with EV sales targets.
He added that the 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel cars would remain in place.
The U.K. exported more than 1 million cars, mainly luxury and premium, worth about 7.6 billion pounds ($9.79 billion) to the U.S. last year, Reuters reported, which forms the country’s second-largest export market after the European Union.
Mike Hawes, head of the UK auto industry group SMMT, told Reuters that while the automotive sector welcomed the move, the government would need to implement a package of measures to support car manufacturing, which directly employs about 200,000 workers.
Jaguar Land Rover, one of the UK’s biggest auto producers, said Saturday it would pause car shipments to the U.S. for a month to consider how to offset tariff-related costs.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares slid 4.4% this morning as the EV maker’s supply chain continues to face headwinds from Trump’s tariffs.
“The economic tariff Armageddon unleashed by the Trump Administration is a double whammy for Tesla in our view,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote, CNBC reported.
