U.K. Auto Industry Faces Damage Without Brexit Transition Deal

  • EU content should count as British in eventual trade agreement
  • About 44% of U.K. car parts now come from British suppliers
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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Britain’s car industry will be permanently damaged unless the government secures a transitional deal with the European Union, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to secure a wide-ranging free trade agreement with the bloc, but talks are off to a rocky start. The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has bluntly warned that such an accord cannot be fleshed out until after the U.K. leaves in less than two years.