The car industry has told Theresa May that the introduction of
tariffs after Britain leaves the EU is a “red line” issue that would
lead to a fall in sales and potentially result in job losses.
In a severe warning about the consequences of a hard Brexit, Mike
Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders, said tariffs would make UK car plants uncompetitive and it was critical that any trade deal with the EU contained some of the benefits of the single market and customs union.
His comments came as the SMMT announced on Thursday that car
manufacturing in Britain reached a 17-year-high in 2016. A total of
1.72m cars were produced last year, up by 8.5% on 2015 and the highest
figure since 1999.
He said the rise was the result of “investment over many years”, rather than a “post-Brexit bounce”.
The number of cars exported
was 1.25m, 79% of the total and an all-time record. In a sign of how
important Europe is to the UK car industry, 57% of the exported cars
went to the EU.
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