The US is JLR’s largest export market and saw a 14% sales spike in the months leading up to the tariffs announcement. By Stewart Burnett
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will temporarily pause all car shipments to the US as it works to “address the new trading terms” imposed by the US. In an emailed statement, the Tata-owned automaker spokesperson said it was “taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid to longer-term plans”.
Tata Motors’ share price tumbled 5.35% in the wake of the announcement. JLR is one of the UK’s biggest producers by volume, and the US serves as its largest market. Annually, it sells over 400,000 units, with US exports accounting for roughly a quarter of total sales. It remains to be seen whether the automaker’s products – which are not made in the US whatsoever – will be subject to a price hike correspondent with the 25% tariffs.
Notably, JLR was among a number of automakers that saw its US sales spike in the run-up to President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs announcement. Wholesale volumes for the first three months of 2025 rose more than 14% year-over-year, outstripping an 11% rise in European sales – the automaker’s second-largest market.
The US is the second-largest export market for British automakers. Cars are the most valuable traded good to the US; government data indicates that the trade was worth £8.3bn (US$10.66bn) for the 12-month period between Q3 2023 and Q3 2024. UK car manufacturing accounts for about 200,000 local jobs, although the industry is now highly exposed to the ramifications of tariffs.