special duties
US and UK settle trade dispute
From June, Great Britain will again be able to import certain quantities of steel and aluminum duty-free into the USA. Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire/dpa
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Former US President Donald Trump introduced special tariffs on steel and aluminum products in 2018. Now the United States and Great Britain have settled the dispute over tariffs that has lasted for years.
The United States and Great Britain have settled their dispute over the special tariffs on steel and aluminum imports introduced under ex-President Donald Trump.
As of June, Great Britain will again be able to import certain quantities of steel and aluminum duty-free into the USA, according to a statement on the agreement distributed in Washington. The duty-free trade volume should roughly correspond to that of 2018 and 2019, when there were no punitive tariffs. Great Britain will therefore waive additional import fees on US goods worth around 500 million US dollars (around 450 million euros), it said.
The agreement follows the model of an agreement between the government of US President Joe Biden and the European Union, which was announced at the end of last year. A similar deal with Japan was also announced in February.
Trump justified the tariffs of 25 percent, which also affected close US allies such as Japan and the Europeans, with “national security interests”. When he took office a year ago, the Democrat Biden promised to mend the relationship he had damaged with US allies.