UK unveils 'historic' US trade deal at Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover factory

Days after confirming , British prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, 8 May, chose a Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) factory in northern England to announce a “historic” trade deal with the US.

Following a phone call with POTUS Donald Trump, Starmer addressed JLR workers in Solihull to highlight the "big win" for the automotive industry as a result of car export tariffs being cut from 27.5 per cent to 10 per cent.

This will apply to a quota of 100,000 UK cars, almost the total number Britain exported last year.

“We are the first country to secure such a deal with the United States and, in an era with global insecurity and instability, that is so important,” said Starmer.

“We are sending a message to the world that Britain is open for business, striking trade agreements with India on Tuesday [6 May], with the US today and working to boost trade with other partners too — including, of course, the EU [European Union], with whom we have a really important meeting a week on Monday [12 May],” he said.

Besides carmakers, the sectors highlighted by 10 Downing Street as benefiting from the UK–US trade deal include steelworks and farmers.

The 25 per cent steel tariffs will come down to zero, and for UK farmers, a reciprocal market access will mean a tariff-free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef. Additionally, ethanol, used to produce beer, will see tariffs down to zero for the UK.

“I will approach negotiations in the same way I have approached negotiations with India and with President Trump to get to today’s deal," Starmer said.

"With India, I met Prime Minister Modi at the G20 in Brazil; we agreed that we would get our teams to work together at pace in a respectful, courteous, business-like way. With President Trump, we’ve operated in the same way... The same with the EU, respectfully negotiating in relation to the summit we’ll have a week on Monday,” he added.

Downing Street said that work will continue on the remaining sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and other reciprocal tariffs.

It highlighted that, “in an important move”, the US has agreed that the UK will get preferential treatment in any further tariffs imposed as part of Section 232 investigations.

The deal opens the way to a future UK–US technology partnership through which both science-rich nations will collaborate in key areas of advanced technology, like biotech, life sciences, quantum computing, nuclear fusion, aerospace and space, Downing Street noted. 

UK business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds credited the UK negotiating team’s “calm approach and proactive engagement” for a deal which cuts tariffs and costs for businesses.

“Businesses across the country will be glad to see our approach working, but this is only the beginning. We look forward to strengthening our trading relationship with the US through a wider economic deal,” he said.

The digital services tax remains unchanged as part of the deal, with both countries agreeing to work on a digital trade deal that will strip back paperwork for British firms trying to export to the US.

"The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all the products produced by our great farmers," said Trump from the Oval Office at the White House.

The US president described the UK as "one of the greatest" allies of the US and said the country "is right at the top — they're the first one we're talking about".

Meanwhile, India is also in the process of negotiating a trade agreement with the US.