UK IN EU TALKS OVER BREXIT RULES THREAT TO CARMAKERS
BRITAIN is talking with Brussels about how to ease Brexit trade rules feared to be threatening thousands of jobs in the car industry, Rishi Sunak said today.
Motoring chiefs have warned that the regulations pose an “existential threat” to the electric car industry in the UK.
EU car chiefs have also voiced worries over the impact of the restrictions on sourcing components, particularly batteries.
After flying to Japan for a G7 meeting, Mr Sunak said: “It’s something that car manufacturers across Europe, not just in the UK, have raised as a concern.
“And as a result of that we are engaged in a dialogue with the EU about how we might address those concerns when it comes to auto manufacturing more generally.”
His comments came after Stellantis, the world’s third largest carmaker by sales and owner of 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, warned British car plants would close with the loss of thousands of jobs unless the Brexit deal was swiftly renegotiated.
It told MPs that under the current deal it would face tariffs when exporting electric vans to the EU from next year, when tougher post-Brexit rules come into force.
The car giant wants the Government and the European Union to extend current rules on the sourcing of parts until 2027 instead of a planned change in 2024, a call echoed by the lobbying body for the European car trade and Ford.
Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45 per cent of the value of an electric vehicle being sold in the European Union must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs.
The problem is that a battery pack can account for up to half a new EV’s cost and the UK has little battery production facility.
Batteries are also heavy and expensive to move long distances.
Experts have been warning since Britain left the EU at the end of 2020 that without a number of EV battery gigafactories the country could lose a hefty chunk of its car industry.
Only Japan’s Nissan has a small EV battery plant in Sunderland, with a second one on the way.