UK LUXURY CAR manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has said that it will “pause” shipments to the United States this month as it addressed “the new trading terms” created by Washington’s tariffs.

A 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into America came into force on Thursday, and a wider “baseline” 10% tariff on goods imported from around the world kicked in this morning.

The move from the British car firm comes as companies are grappling with the new trade rules, and the fallout on the global stock markets.

In a statement on Saturday, a JLR spokesperson said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on all automobile imports to the US. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Trading across the world has been hammered in the aftermath of the president’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

The UK’s FTSE 100 plummeted yesterday in its worst day of trading since the start of the pandemic, while markets on Wall Street also tumbled.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to spend the weekend taking calls from foreign leaders about the tariffs after discussions with the prime ministers of Australia and Italy on Friday in which the leaders agreed that a trade war would be “extremely damaging”.

In a statement, a Downing Street spokesperson said the leaders “all agreed that an all-out trade war would be extremely damaging”.

The spokesperson added that Starmer “has been clear the UK’s response will be guided by the national interest” and officials will “calmly continue with our preparatory work, rather than rush to retaliate”.

“He discussed this approach with both leaders, acknowledging that while the global economic landscape has shifted this week, it has been clear for a long time that like-minded countries must maintain strong relationships and dialogue to ensure our mutual security and maintain economic stability,” the spokesperson said.

Beijing said it would respond with its own 34% tariff on imports of all US products from April 10.

Here, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the European response should be “considered and measured and the action should be proportionate, aimed at defending the interests of our businesses and citizens”, amid calls from several nations to impose reciprocal tariffs on US imports.