Starmer Rushes to Water-Down Electric Car Rules in Wake of Trump Tariffs
Keir Starmer is preparing to rush through changes that water-down electric vehicle targets as soon as next week as carmakers brace for Donald Trump’s tariffs – but carmakers warn the changes don’t go far enough. The Telegraph has more.
On Friday, Whitehall sources confirmed that the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate would be amended as soon as next week.
The new rules, first reported by the Times, will give manufacturers extra ‘flexibilities’ following the imposition of 25% duties on all the cars they export to the US.
But it is understood that they do not currently include reforms of the mandate’s headline targets and are unlikely to go further than what was set out in a consultation that closed in February.
Senior car industry sources have warned that those measures do not go far enough. Manufacturers are split on the issue of targets but most have been lobbying for carve-outs or changes that would let them continue selling hybrid cars for longer.
One warned: “Changes seem likely but we don’t know if they will be sufficient to ease the financial pressure on the market.”
It comes as the Prime Minister pins his hopes on neutralising the tariff threat by striking a trade deal with Mr Trump, as Britain otherwise contemplates the introduction of retaliatory measures in four weeks.
Under the existing ZEV mandate, 28% of new cars sold in the UK must be electric this year – although in practice manufacturers can already undershoot this target using various allowances.
The annual targets rise gradually each year until they reach 80% of sales in 2030, when sales of pure new petrol and diesel cars will also be banned.
Up until 2035 the sale of some hybrids will still be allowed, although the Government has not yet confirmed which types.
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What will Musk do when everyone stops buying his BEVs, because all the taxpayer funded subsidies for both manufacture and purchase dried up?
Hint hint…
EVs are not his only business and he doesn’t own all of it. Ultimately he could walk away.
Ya think? See TSLA share price, over the last 10 years.
What are his other businesses which could support his current commitments and lifestyle? Neuralink?! X?! SpaceX?!
Boring Company?
Share price is only relevant if buying/selling shares.
Mostly people/institutions own shares for the dividends. Dividends depend on the performance of the company, not its shares, although it share price may be an indicator of its performance.
Musk is selling his TSLA. All the time.
Another comment about Elon Musk. Please don’t stress about him. Pay attention to what is happening in your own country.
Maybe there are enough Tesla fanatics out there to keep it going.
He owns about 14% of Tesla, worth somewhere around 90 bill’.
The US public owns about 45%, which makes the protests against Musky hilarious. Shot. Foot.
I agree.
I think right now, instead of worrying about what Elon Musk will do, the Brits might take a hard look at what They need to do.
Trump is the gift that keeps on giving – even to the lefties. They know they are going to wreck the car industry so this is a convenient bit of cover. It remains to be seen whether they are true believers, or they are cynically turning the boiling frogs down to a simmer or looking for a way out.
Automotive industry at mercy of Kommissars Two-Tier and Miliband pushing poor substitutes for the real thing. Same goes for the oil and gas, home-heating and ancilliary industries. Tariffs a convenient smokescreen to cover up persisting with daft green policies most of the world had enough common sense not to fall for in the first place.
What more could possibly go wrong?
All it would take is the top 2-3 companies to say no, we are not going to accept this legislation. They employ too many people across Europe to not be listened to… but it’ll need 2-3 of them to align and stick together
But will they have the guts to do it, or are they going to lead themselves over the cliff?
Managerial leadership class too adept at kow-towing to perceived higher authority for their own good.
And where do big corporate investors sit in all this?
Good point – sadly all the corporate investors / banks are either bought off or behind this in the first place
The problem is those companies are foreign owned, their owners in cahoots with their domestic governments relying on sudsidies, tariff & non-tariff protection and mandates to keep the tills ringing.
It might be dawning on some – maybe things aren’t quite working out.
watching the last 2 days massive stock market sell off / over-reaction, I can’t help thinking it’s again just a created crisis so the rich and powerful can extract more value, shorting the market or buying up cheap stock etc. I wonder how many western governments also want this to allow them to hide how they’ve devalued their currencies over the last 20-30 years through money printing?
I’m confused.
I’ve read on several occasions that the Net Zero drive is codifies into law and so the executive is powerless to change that without changing the law.
Furthermore, I’ve read also that trying to change the law might lead to a barrage of legal challenges that might succeed in stopping any repeal Net Zero.
So when I read that Starmer or the government are softening targets, I’m confused. Sceptical, but mostly confused.
I think that’s the intention. The starting point is: they lie.
…and they can do whatever they want!
UK hit hard by car tariffs? It’s US buyers of those cars who are “hit hard” because they pay the tariffs as part of the end-user price. Infatuation with exports. They are a cost! No Country and its people get rich from exports, its imports that make wealth. Imports are Christmas Day, exports the January credit card bill. We export to get foreign exchange to buy imports. If we sell less to the US, we get fewer $ so we buy less from the US. Tell DJT somebody. And… if the selling prices of imported cars go up, then so will the prices of domestic produced cars – just as if Lidl and Aldi put up their prices, so will Tesco, Sainsbury’s, et al. In that case the supposed effect of directing US consumers away from imports to domestic won’t happen, but what will happen is all car sales will drop, and economic activity overall will drop as car buyers will have less money to buy other things. But. Let’s poke about underneath the hyperventilating and check a few things. The other night I watched an episode of Bangers & Cash – fun even if you aren’t a patrol-head. An… Read more »
Great post – as we all these things it’s far more complex than it seems at first hand. The point around exporting to get foreign currency, and export jobs not necessarily actually being good long term are very thought provoking ones
I second purpleone. Excellent comment. Thanks
Starmer should scrap the government imposed internal tariff of fining manufacturers that do not meet the EV sales target, but of course he won’t.
Allow customers to buy whatever car they want without subsidies or fines, let the market operate freely.
The problem isn’t that the cars are Electric powered, it’s that they are Battery powered.
Throw in freedom of speech and lowering taxes and we are their Kier.