But according to Automotive News Europe, car imports from the UK have increased by 39 percent since 2022, and it’s quite possible that those imports will exceed the new quota this year.
Not everyone is as pleased as the UK car industry, however. The big three in Detroit—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—are upset that mostly luxury cars from Britain get a break while they have no relief on the cars they build abroad for sale here in the US.
“We are disappointed that the administration prioritized the UK ahead of our North American partners. Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little US content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts. This hurts American automakers, suppliers, and auto workers,” said Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
Worse yet, American automakers fear this is just the start of things to come. “We hope this preferential access for UK vehicles over North American ones does not set a precedent for future negotiations with Asian and European competitors,” Blunt said.