The United States is reducing the trade barriers that apply to steel and aluminum from the United Kingdom. Some of Britain’s exports of those metals are exempt from the tariffs imposed by the US administration under Donald Trump. In return, the United Kingdom will remove tariffs on US goods worth $500 million in total exports, including spirits and agricultural products.
From now on, Britons can export up to 500,000 tons of steel and 900,000 tons of aluminum to the US without having to pay 25 percent and 10 percent respectively in border duties. Trump introduced those tariffs in 2018 on steel and aluminum from nearly every other country to protect U.S. industry. He invoked a national security law.
The US tariffs came as a shock to many US allies. In a press statement, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo emphasizes that the Biden administration wants to re-establish ties with those countries. The idea is that they must then take action together with the US against alleged distortions of competition by China. That country has been accused for years of flooding markets with steel that can remain cheap thanks to state aid.
The European Union has already reached an agreement with the Americans on steel and aluminum tariffs. The British could no longer take advantage of this because of Brexit.
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