Solihull, a market town in the West Midlands, UK, is located in one of the UK’s largest automotive factories and is run by luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover.
A collection of low-haired, grey buildings spread over 300 acres, the factory does not physically move above the Solihull. But the impact here is enormous. 9,000 people work directly at Jaguar Land Rover, known as JLR, but many more are employed by contractors.
So, President Trump’s introduction of a 25% tariff on imported cars, despite the sudden suspension of so-called “mutual” tariffs announced Wednesday, has caused some 218,000 people to worry in the town.
JLR, which sells about a fifth of its cars in the US, responded on Saturday by announcing it would suspend shipments to the US in April. The company is one of the UK’s largest automakers, exporting around 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 alone.
In the town centre of Solihull on Tuesday, 42-year-old Ben Slade said he and his family were watching the news with concern. “My brother-in-law works for Solihull JLR. I know how many cars they are waiting for shipment to America,” Slade said. His brother-in-law had three children, he said, “So it’s a very nervous time for my sister. Many people joke a bit about it in their usual British fashion, but I think everyone is nervous.”
The first Land Rover rolled out of Solihull’s production line in 1948, and the town hosts a flagship factory for its successor, the Range Rover. At the barber shop just minutes from the factory gates on Tuesday, owner Paula Burnham said many of her customers were JLR workers. As she said, the truck ran through the past loaded with a sparkling new Range Rover.
“Every time something happens around here and affects the big impact of JLR, all other subsidiaries tend to have to lose workers, which impacts the wider community,” she said.
Mr. Burnham had just cut the hair of a JLR employee, but he refused to talk about the records, citing company instructions to not speak to the media.
As a business owner, Burnham said he understands why Trump has ambitions to boost American manufacturing. “I’m not a Trump supporter, but sometimes I think I’m saying that sometimes it means something to the US, not to us, but to them,” she added.
However, she expressed her vigilance of growing international instability, calling it “terrifying” when Trump and his vice president betrayed Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky when he visited the White House in February. “I don’t want to be Kiel’s starge,” she added, referring to the British prime minister who has spent weeks courting Trump and tried to avoid imposing tariffs. “Trump is a very rog-abashed guy. He’s a loose cannon and you just don’t know what he’s going to do next.”
On Wednesday, the president announced a 90-day hiatus on the most sudden trade tariffs he has set for countries around the world. However, no changes were made to the 25% rate of vehicles and parts imported by the US, announced separately last month and effective on April 2nd.
Starmer came to Solihull on Monday to give a speech about the UK’s response to tariffs and stood in front of the production line to issue a new “time of unrest.”
“We’ll stay calm and fight for the best deal with the US,” Sterner said. “The car building was our heritage and now we will not turn our back on it.”
His government is in ongoing consultations with the US in hopes of reducing the 10% blanket tariff or 25% tax on cars imposed on the UK.
If these negotiations don’t bring out a consequence, Slade is worried about the knock-on effect of Solihull on business if JLR starts to start cutting. He understood Starmer had to “play Nice” with Trump in the short term, but he added that he believed the government should “exploring other options,” even if it means dealing with a country that he thinks is as suspicious as China.”
“America can’t rely on us, so we need to do business with them,” Slade added. “The priorities treat it like a special relationship still exists, but I don’t think it is. Trump is coming out just for Trump’s own interest.”
Norman Stewart, 60, a street performer who plays steel bread that goes further down the street and calls Trump’s tariffs “madness,” says the “stimulating chaos for everyone, even Americans, non-Americans and penguins.
There is widespread concern that the economy will fall into a recession in Solihull and elsewhere in the UK. Julie Hickey, 58, sat on a bench outside the Gregs Bakery, recalling the closure of her father’s metalworking company during the financial slump of the 1980s. “With many of these small factories gone, we are now relying on larger locations,” she added.
She also felt that Starmer should respond more aggressively to Trump. “To be honest, I think he’s a bit of a chicken. He should stick to the country. We’re a simple target these days.”
Sitting with her, 87-year-old Jean Stanley agreed to the assessment, but saved her most harsh criticism of Trump. “Every time he gets on TV, I turn it off and I can’t stand the guy,” she said.
At the end of Solihull’s High Street, the church spire overlooks the 15th century Tudorville collection. Theatre director Dewi Johnson, enjoying lunch in the sun outside a French brasserie, used four letter words to describe Trump. “I haven’t seen these tariff points. I’m not seeing any profits,” he said. “Everyone says it’s going to be like the 1930s crash. I was 30 and had three recessions in my life. I don’t need one more.”
