Cars imported into the UK from European Union (EU) countries will be subject to a 10% import tariff from the start of next year, the UK government has confirmed.
Revealed by the Department for International Trade as part of its wide-reaching announcement on the country’s post-Brexit trade tariffs, the default to World Trade Organization (WTO) terms means cars built in the EU will be subject to the same tariff rate as cars from elsewhere in the world.
Currently, there's zero import levy applied to EU-built cars. The 10% levy will apply unless the UK is able to strike a trade deal with the EU by the end of this year.
The UK government sees tariffs on sectors such as the automotive industry as essential to “help support businesses in every region and nation in the UK to thrive”, including manufacturing. Jaguar Land Rover is one company that could benefit as prices of its dominant premium opposition from Germany are hiked up.
It's unlikely that EU-based manufacturers will be able to absorb the additional cost, meaning it will be passed on to consumers in most cases. Porsche, for example, confirmed last year that its customers would have to pay 10% more for its models under a no-deal Brexit.
Contrasting to the retained 10% levy on imported cars, the Secretary of of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, has actually reduced or removed current tariffs on a number of products, including dishwashers and freezers, cooking products, sanitary products and Christmas trees.
More than £30 billion worth of imports will have tariffs removed in total, the government claims.
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Car tax as well?
So add on the 10% tariff and when the list price goes above £40k you start paying another £325 a year for the 1st 5 years of ownership unless you have an EV.
For heaven’s sake
Get over it! (Brexit)
Are you Poms condemned for ever to agonise over the decision to leave the Great European State?
Nothing stirs the Autocar blogosphere more than this topic. I thought you were supposed to be petrolheads?
Robbo
a view from Down Under
4/4 10% tariff is going to destroy UK car industry!
Biggest victim from this Brexit fallout is the Japanese factories and British workforce.The nerve of the Government spitting in the face of Japanese companies like Honda(who are already leaving) , Nissan and Toyota who created 10s of billions of tax revenue building cars and engines in the UK. How ironic the Tories darling Maggie first begged the Japanese to build cars in the UK starting when Triumph sold the Acclaim, a ‘knock-down kit’ Honda Ballade. 40 years later the Tories are basically kicking them out and finally destroying UK mass car production for good if this obscene tariff is in place next year. A complete s**tshow