The US and the UK have reached an agreement to end US tariffs on British steel and aluminum, with the UK removing levies on US whiskey, tobacco and motorcycles in return.
Former President Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports in 2018, as part of his “America First” policy aimed at protecting US jobs and businesses. The UK retaliated with tariffs of its own on products imported from the US.
One of the motivators behind the agreement was the desire to confront the rising influence of China, and as part of the deal the UK has agreed to audit the financial records of any British company owned by a Chinese entity for possible influence from Beijing.
Officials that had helped negotiate the agreement said it would allow the UK to ship “historically-based sustainable volumes” of steel and aluminum products to the US without the obstacles posed by tariffs.
“By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminum from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
The tariffs were one of a number of Trump-era policies that President Biden was understood to be keen to overturn, and negotiations between the two parties began in January. The news follows on from similar agreements to end levies imposed on the EU and Japan by the former president, which were made in October and February respectively.
Britain’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan welcomed the deal, saying it was “good news for our steel and aluminum industries who have been unfairly hit by these tariffs, and the 80,000 people employed across the sector.”
The deal will see Britain receive an import quota of over 500,000 metric tons of steel tariff-free each year, with higher volumes still subject to the previous rate of 25%. In return, the UK will end retaliatory tariffs imposed on iconic US brands such as Harley Davidson and Levi Strauss.