Aston Martin soars as Trump cuts tariffs on UK cars – but pharma firms must await their fate

Published on: May 8, 2025

By JESSICA CLARK

Updated: 22:00 BST, 8 May 2025

Shares in Aston Martin soared as Donald Trump agreed to lower tariffs on imports of British cars.

The luxury car maker rose 13.9 per cent after the levy on UK vehicles was cut to 10 per cent from 27.5 per cent.

But that is still well above the 2.5 per cent before the trade war began. And 10 per cent will only apply to the first 100,000 cars exported to the US – less than the total last year.

Aston announced plans to slash exports to the US over tariffs.

Shares in engine maker Rolls-Royce also rose 3.7 per cent, while parts supplier Melrose as up 5.2 per cent on hopes of a favourable outcome for the aerospace industry.

But drugs giant AstraZeneca fell 3.5pc and GSK was down 1.1p amid a lack of detail on potential tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Green light: Shares in Aston Martin rose 13.9% after US President Donald Trump cut the levy on UK vehicles to 10% from 27.5%

And the FTSE 100 fell 0.3 per cent amid disappointment over the scope of the deal.

Matthew Ryan, strategist at financial services firm Ebury, said: ‘We’ve seen little sign of euphoria in UK financial markets, which tells you all you need to know about how investors view the deal.

‘This is also far from a full-blown trade agreement.’

Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker, said tariffs mean profits will fall by a fifth to £19.6billion in the year to March 2026.

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Aston Martin soars as Trump cuts tariffs on UK cars – but pharma firms must await their fate

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Aston Martin soars as Trump cuts tariffs on UK cars – but pharma firms must await their fate