Sir Keir Starmer tells JLR plant trade deal will cut tariffs for car manufacturers

Express & Star

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells workers at JLR plant in Solihull that trade deal will cut tariffs for car manufacturers as the UK-US agreement was announced on Thursday May 8

Transcript

00:02Welcome to you.

00:06Thank you, Adrian, and thank you to all of you.

00:10It was fantastic to be with you what was just a few weeks ago

00:14and really fantastic to come back.

00:17Just a few moments ago, I spoke to President Trump,

00:21the President of the United States,

00:23and I'm really pleased to announce to you,

00:26and I wanted to come to you to announce it,

00:28that we've agreed the basis of a historic economic prosperity deal,

00:35and that is a deal that will protect British businesses

00:38and save thousands of jobs in Britain,

00:42really important, skilled, well-paid jobs.

00:45It will remove tariffs of British steel and aluminium,

00:50reducing them to zero.

00:52It will provide vital assurances for our life sciences sector,

00:57so important to our economy,

01:00and grant unprecedented market access for British farmers

01:03without compromising our high standards.

01:08And for the great British cars that you make here,

01:11that we see all around us,

01:14this deal means that the US tariffs

01:16will now be cut from 27.5% down to 10%

01:21for 100,000 vehicles every year.

01:25That's a huge and important reduction.

01:28And I know from when I was last year,

01:30last here,

01:31how much that will have been weighing on your minds

01:34when you knew the size of the tariff

01:36that would otherwise be in place.

01:39And to get that decrease was hugely important to me.

01:43And I can tell you,

01:44my teams were working really hard on this deal,

01:46night and day for weeks.

01:48I was working with them.

01:50And in politics,

01:51what matters sometimes

01:52is who you have in your mind's eye

01:55when you're making these deals.

01:56Who do you have in your mind's eye

01:57when you're taking decisions?

01:59And what I took away from here last time

02:01was you and the brilliant work that you do,

02:03and had you in my mind's eye

02:05as we did that.

02:07And we've got scope now

02:08to increase that quota as we go forward.

02:11So this is not fixed.

02:12This is where we've got to.

02:14And all of these tariff cuts

02:15will come into place as soon as possible.

02:18And that's really important as well

02:20in relation to the work that you're doing

02:22and the brilliant cars that you make.

02:25And as Adrian said,

02:26I was here with you just,

02:28as I say, a few weeks ago.

02:31And I promised you

02:33that I would deliver

02:34in the national interest.

02:36And today,

02:37I'm really pleased to come back here

02:39to be able to look you in the eye

02:41and to say,

02:41I've delivered on the promise

02:42I made to you.

02:44And that's why,

02:45as soon as I knew

02:46this deal was coming in today,

02:48I said,

02:49I want to come back to JLR

02:51to talk to the workforce there

02:53for whom this means so much.

02:55Now, of course,

02:56we are the first country

02:58to secure such a deal

03:00with the United States.

03:01And in an era of global insecurity

03:04and instability,

03:05that is so important.

03:07The great challenge of our age

03:09is to secure and to renew Britain.

03:12And that is what we're going to do.

03:14Acting in the national interest,

03:16shaping this new era,

03:17not being shaped by it.

03:19If it's not good for Britain,

03:21we won't do it.

03:22If it doesn't mean more money

03:24in people's pockets,

03:25we won't do it.

03:26If it doesn't mean security and renewal

03:28in every part of the country,

03:30we won't do it.

03:32But that doesn't mean

03:33we're turning inward.

03:35Instead,

03:36we're sending a message

03:37to the world

03:38that Britain is open for business,

03:41seeking trade agreements

03:42with India on Tuesday,

03:45with the US today,

03:47and working to boost trade

03:48with other partners too,

03:50including, of course,

03:51the EU,

03:52with whom we have

03:52a really important meeting

03:54just a week on Monday,

03:56making deals

03:57that will benefit working people.

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