Writing for The Mirror, Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that the new trade deal reached with Donald Trump will save thousands of jobs in the UK’s car industry
Last month, I visited the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Solihull.
I told the workers there that Britain was entering a new era, one characterised by volatility and uncertainty. And I made them a promise. I said my government wouldn’t just respond to these changes, but we’d seize the future so it worked for them.
I said we would boost investment to unlock the potential of every community. And I said we would accelerate trade deals with the rest of the world and champion the cause of free and open trade.
Yesterday, I was back, just one month later. I had a call with President Trump at the Jaguar Land Rover factory, surrounded by the workers whose livelihoods depend on those automotive jobs. And I was able to announce our new agreement with the US will save thousands of jobs in our car industry.
We’ve cut car tariffs from 27.5% to 10%. That could save Jaguar Land Rover hundreds of millions of pounds a year and saves the jobs of the workers in the long run. Now this is just the beginning.
This deal will throw open the door to the US market for British food producers, so that we can sell more of our world class products across the Atlantic. It will support British steel makers, which will be tariff free after this government acted to save British Steel last month.
And it will drive growth across the country, as part of our Plan for Change.
It was important to me to go back to JLR, look those workers in the eye and tell them I had delivered on the promise I made to them in April.
Because British workers, businesses and families are my only priority. I will always act in their interests.
