- The U.S. and U.K. have announced a trade deal to remove tariffs on British steel & aluminum and American whiskey, motorcycles, and tobacco, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- Biden administration officials said the agreement would allow the U.K to ship “historically-based sustainable volumes” of steel and aluminum products to the U.S. without levies imposed under the former Trump administration.
- The import duty of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum from various countries were imposed by Mr. Trump in 2018, who said that protecting the U.S. steel industry from low-price imports was a matter of national security.
- Under the agreement, the U.K. will be allowed to ship up to 500,000 metric tons of steel duty-free, divided between 54 products based on the trading volume in 2018 and 2019. The deal also set tariff-free quotas for several types of aluminum.
- The U.K. will lift tariffs on more than $500 million worth of U.S. exports to the U.K., including distilled spirits, farm products, and consumer goods.
- The deal also requires any U.K. steel company owned by a Chinese entity to audit their financial records to assess possible influence from China and share the results with the U.S.
- The agreement follows similar deals the Biden administration signed with the European Union and Japan in recent months to mend trade ties with friendly nations strained during former President Donald Trump’s trade war.
- Photo by capri23auto via Pixabay
