U.S. Temporarily Lifts Tariffs on UK Goods, Aims for Aerospace Talks

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced that the retaliatory tariffs against UK goods regarding the dispute over subsidies for Airbus and Boeing will be suspended for four months. According to a joint statement from the two nations, the tariff suspension will provide a window to help resolve the dispute.

The UK government had dropped its tariffs against the U.S. on January 1 without American reciprocation. Now, the U.S. government has changed its tune in an effort to allow productive negotiations around aircraft manufacturing subsidies. Starting March 4, the United States instituted its own suspension of tariffs for a four-month duration.

“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,” a joint statement said.

Tariffs on a wide range of products from the UK like Scotch Whiskey had endured an extra 25 percent in duties according to Bloomberg News. The U.S. enacted its retaliatory tariffs after the World Trade Organization ruled that the EU had illegally subsidized Airbus.

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