Jaguar Land Rover Pauses Vehicle Exports To US After Trump’s “Liberation Day”

President Trump’s “Liberation Day” kicked off the beginnings of a grand global economic reordering—something that may result in or be “equivalent of a new Bretton Woods or if you want to go back like something back to the steel agreements or the Treaty of Versailles, there’s a very good chance that we are going to have to have that over the next four years, and I’d like to be a part of it,” Bianco Research President Jim Bianco wrote on X. 

The economic reordering will bring disruption—and the companies that failed to heed President Trump’s warnings during his first term will be the most impacted unless their respective countries strike a fair trade deal with Trump. 

UK automaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) appears to have ignored the memo to onshore some manufacturing lines in the US as a new report from The Times says JLR will be pausing vehicle shipments to the US beginning on Monday to assess the fallout from Trump’s 25% tariff on imported cars.

Here’s more color on the situation from the UK media outlet:

The month-long move is just one of the measures being prepared by the Indian-owned carmaker, which employs 38,000 people in Britain, as it scrambles to assess the damage inflicted on its business from Trump’s trade war. It is thought that JLR has a couple of months’ supply of cars already in America that have not been subject to the new tariffs. It takes about 21 days to ship vehicles across the Atlantic.

Coventry-based JLR sells 400,000 vehicles a year and almost a quarter of these are exported to America where its bestselling cars are the Rover Defender and Ranger Rover Sport. Range Rovers have been embraced by American celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Bruce Springsteen.

JLR sits at the heart of Britain’s car industry, which accounts for every £1 in £8 of the country’s exports. 

. . . 

The IPPR think tank has warned that 25,000 jobs are at risk. That does not take into account the extensive supply chain, largely in the West Midlands, which provides carmakers with steel, plastics, fabrics and engine parts.

The latest sales figures from JLR indicate that the Jaguar F-PACE, F-TYPE, I-PACE, and XF are among the most popular vehicles sold in the US market. It’s unclear what JLR will decide after pausing US exports on Monday—whether this will lead to onshoring production lines in the US or prompt the UK auto industry to hold an emergency meeting with UK trade officials.

A former automotive consultant in the UK warned The Guardian on Friday, stating, “It will kill Jaguar Land Rover here in the town. There could potentially be job losses because JLR exports enormously to America. The knock-on effect is going to be enormous.”

Foreign automakers that produce vehicles in the US:

Japanese Automakers

1. Toyota
   • Plants: Georgetown, Kentucky; Huntsville, Alabama; Blue Springs, Mississippi; Princeton, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas.
   • Models: Camry, Corolla, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sienna, among others.
   • Notes: Toyota’s largest US plant is in Georgetown, producing over 550,000 vehicles annually in recent years. The company has been building cars in the US since 1986.
2. Honda
   • Plants: Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio; Lincoln, Alabama; Greensburg, Indiana.
   • Models: Accord, Civic (some trims), CR-V, Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline.
   • Notes: Honda started US production in 1982 in Marysville, making it one of the first foreign automakers to build here. The Alabama plant focuses on SUVs and trucks.
3. Nissan
   • Plants: Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee; Canton, Mississippi.
   • Models: Altima, Pathfinder, Titan, Frontier, Leaf (electric).
   • Notes: Smyrna opened in 1983 and has produced over 14 million vehicles. Canton builds trucks and SUVs.
4. Subaru
   • Plant: Lafayette, Indiana (Subaru of Indiana Automotive).
   • Models: Outback, Ascent, Impreza, Legacy.
   • Notes: The only US plant for Subaru, operational since 1989, producing over 367,000 vehicles in 2020 alone.
5. Mazda
   • Plant: Huntsville, Alabama (shared with Toyota via a joint venture).
   • Models: Mazda CX-50, CX-70 (production started in 2022).
   • Notes: Mazda’s US production is relatively new, leveraging Toyota’s infrastructure.
6. Mitsubishi
   • Notes: Mitsubishi no longer has active US plants. It previously produced vehicles in Normal, Illinois (closed in 2015), but now imports all models to the US.

South Korean Automakers

1. Hyundai
   • Plant: Montgomery, Alabama.
   • Models: Elantra, Sonata, Santa Fe, Tucson, Santa Cruz.
   • Notes: Opened in 2005, this $1.7 billion facility supports over 3,000 direct jobs.
2. Kia
   • Plant: West Point, Georgia.
   • Models: Telluride, Sorento, K5 (formerly Optima).
   • Notes: Since 2009, this plant has built over 2.7 million vehicles, supplying 940 dealerships in the US and Canada.

German Automakers

1. BMW
   • Plant: Spartanburg, South Carolina.
   • Models: X3, X4, X5, X6, X7.
   • Notes: Opened in 1994, it’s BMW’s largest plant globally, producing over 1,500 vehicles daily and more than 5 million total.
2. Mercedes-Benz
   • Plant: Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Models: GLE, GLS, C-Class, EQE SUV (electric).
   • Notes: Since 1997, this plant has seen over $6 billion in investment, with recent expansions for electric vehicle production.
3. Volkswagen
   • Plant: Chattanooga, Tennessee.
   • Models: Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, ID.4 (electric).
   • Notes: Operational since 2011, it’s VW’s only US plant, with plans for potential expansion.
4. Porsche
   • Notes: Porsche doesn’t have a dedicated US plant but assembles some Cayenne and Macan models at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga facility under shared production.

Other European Automakers

1. Volvo (Swedish, owned by China’s Geely)
   • Plant: Ridgeville, South Carolina.
   • Models: S60, EX90 (electric SUV).
   • Notes: Opened in 2018, this is Volvo’s first US plant, focusing on both gas and electric models.
2. Stellantis (Multinational, headquartered in Amsterdam; includes Italian and French brands)
   • Plants: Multiple US locations (e.g., Belvidere, Illinois; Detroit and Warren, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio).
   • Models: Jeep (Wrangler, Grand Cherokee), Dodge (Durango), Chrysler (Pacifica).
   • Notes: While Stellantis is foreign-based, it inherited Chrysler’s US operations, making it a hybrid case. Its US plants predate the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group.

Clearly, JLR didn’t receive the memo during Trump’s first term.

But they received the woke memo… 

Jaguar Attempts To ‘Bud Light’ Itself With Cringeworthy Woke Ad https://t.co/o9t7VwL0Wm

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 19, 2024

Now comes the pain—or can UK officials negotiate a fair trade deal with Trump?