The United States agreed to suspend some tariffs on products from the United Kingdom that were applied under former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The tariffs were levied in 2019 in response to tensions over the British government’s support for Airbus and included $7.5 billion worth of European goods. Among the tariffs the U.S. agreed to suspend on Thursday included scotch whiskey and other food and spirits.
“The United Kingdom and the United States are undertaking a four-month tariff suspension to ease the burden on industry and take a bold, joint step towards resolving the longest-running disputes at the World Trade Organization,” the two countries said in a joint statement.
The joint statement, released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, noted that the U.K. “ceased applying retaliatory tariffs in the Boeing dispute from January 1, 2021 to de-escalate the issue and create space for a negotiated settlement to the Airbus and Boeing disputes.”
REMOVING TARIFFS IS KEY TO ECONOMIC RELIEF
The newly suspended tariffs appear to be a U.S. reciprocation of the January olive branch from the U.K., according to the Associated Press. The two parties said the retaliatory tariffs would be suspended for four months, which will “allow time to focus on negotiating a balanced settlement to the disputes and begin seriously addressing the challenges posed by new entrants to the civil aviation market from non-market economies, such as China.”
“This will benefit a wide range of industries on both sides of the Atlantic and allow for focused settlement negotiations to ensure that our aerospace industries can finally see a resolution and focus on COVID recovery and other shared goals,” the statement read.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States issued a statement on Thursday hailing the move to suspend some of the tariffs but also said it was “greatly disappointed” that U.K. tariffs on American whiskey are still in place. The U.K. is the fourth-largest importer of U.S. whiskey, and U.S. exports of the spirit have declined 53% since the imposition of the tariffs, according to the group.
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“We urge the U.S. and U.K. to build on this positive momentum by negotiating an agreement to simultaneously eliminate retaliatory tariffs on all distilled spirits, which will benefit hospitality businesses on both sides of the Atlantic that are struggling to recover and rebuild from the global pandemic,” the council said.
