The British government detailed on Monday, April 7, a flexibility plan for electrification of the country sector on Monday, April 7, April 7. An expected development but is out of time for a sector hit since April 3 for the tasks of US customs in 25%.
Customs duties “are bad news for the global economy (…) and that is why we are establishing today a set of support measures for the automotive industry,” said Transport Minister Heidi Alexander, at the British Channel Sky News on Monday, April 7.
Authorized hybrid sales after 2030
The Executive had announced more flexibility on Sunday night with manufacturers with the prohibition of the sale of gas and diesel cars in 2030 in the country, authorizing them in particular to marketing hybrids beyond this date and exempt from the objectives established small manufacturers, such as McLaren and Aston Martin.
A news that goes wrong with environmental NGOs: “This measure of measures weakens the incentives to the energy transition,” says Doug Parr, a Greenpeace UK official. “The climatic emergency will not wait for the United Kingdom to mobilize.”
Automobile manufacturers have agreed: “The government has heard the industry and rightly recognized the strong pressure that” stakeholders are suffered in the sector, welcome in a press release, Mike Hawes, managing director of the SMMT Sector Association.
However, in the face of “potentially severe difficulties (…) after the introduction of US customs duties, greater measures will be needed to preserve the competitiveness of our industry,” he warned.
Suspended deliveries
A sign of concerns of the sector, which weighs 19 billion pounds (22.2 billion euros) and uses 152,000 people in the country, the Jaguar Land Rover group announced on Saturday suspending their deliveries to the United States in April, the time to examine the impact of these customs tasks.
If a certain flexibility in government electrification was expected, regardless of American customs ads, London examined “with a renewed emergency” the problem of the automotive industry last week, said Heidi Alexander in LBC.
The manufacturers now call London and Washington to continue the negotiations of “sustained rhythm” for a possible economic agreement that the United Kingdom hopes to reduce customs tasks.
London was imposed last week of reciprocal customs duties of 10%, the lowest level announced, particularly compared to the European Union (20%), but the automotive industry or even steel and aluminum are attacked worldwide for specific taxes of 25%.
The British government has been negotiating with the Americans for several weeks to try to win an agreement that can eliminate all or part of these taxes.
This idea, made possible by Brexit, dates back to the visit of February to Washington from Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Donald Trump had mentioned an agreement “in which customs duties would not be necessary between the two countries.
Small exempt manufacturers
London is trying to “guarantee that the companies” of the automotive sector “can export British cars built by British workers,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a statement.
The prohibition of the sale of gasoline and diesel cars in the country had been transferred to 2035 by the previous conservative government, but the new labor executive had already indicated several times that it would return to the initial ambition of 2030.
But to soften this objective, the Government said Monday that hybrid vehicles will always be sold until 2035, the repeated demand of the sector.
In addition, small manufacturers, including emblematic British brands McLaren and Aston Martin, will be exempt from the established objectives.
The plan announced on Monday also confirms a financial commitment of 2.3 billion pounds to support the production of electric vehicles and other flexibility measures to prevent manufacturers from being obliged to pay fines.
Support for the automotive industry “is examined again as the impact of customs customs (American) tasks is clarified,” the government said.
Source: BFM TV
