Britain’s leading industry figures have delivered a stark warning to Parliament’s business committee: UK manufacturers will start cutting jobs “within weeks” if ministers fail to secure a deal with Washington to soften President Trump’s planned trade tariffs.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, told MPs that luxury carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and McLaren face an acute squeeze. With a 10 per cent general tariff on goods entering the US and 25 per cent levies on steel, aluminium and cars due to take effect soon, he said high-end automotive production destined for America will become unviable unless new terms are agreed. “The impact is now,” Hawes warned. “We need a deal very quickly or a mechanism to support the industry in the coming weeks and months.”
Stephen Phipson of Make UK, representing the wider manufacturing base, echoed the urgency. He told MPs that firms are already reducing agency and temporary roles in anticipation of higher costs, and could be forced into widespread redundancies by summer if tariffs remain in place. Unite’s Steve Turner confirmed some employers have begun trimming casual labour to cut expenditure ahead of the measures.
The threat comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves travels to Washington to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, aiming to negotiate a bilateral accord that would shield the UK economy from a full blown trade war. Industry leaders urged her to press for carve-outs or exemptions on key sectors and, failing a breakthrough, to resurrect a furlough-style wage support programme to prevent mass unemployment. Hawes stressed that while layoffs would be an “absolute last resort,” they are now imminent “rather than months down the line.”
Executives also highlighted the broader competitive challenges facing British manufacturing. Nissan’s senior executive Alan Johnson told MPs that the Sunderland plant one of the company’s most efficient globally nevertheless endures the highest electricity costs in its network, undermining the UK’s attractiveness for investment. Ministers were urged to accelerate the promised modern industrial strategy and urgently reduce energy bills to safeguard the sector.
With tariffs looming and energy costs among the highest in Europe, Britain’s manufacturers say the government must deliver rapid trade relief and cost support or face significant job losses in both the automotive heartland and across the wider industrial base.
