At a meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday, US and UK reached a consensus to end tariffs on British steel and aluminum that was imposed during the Trump administration in the United States. The lift of taxes is seen as an attempt to mend the rift between the two allies. The British has in turn agreed to lift retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports, including whiskey.
In 2018, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on aluminum, calling the foreign metals a threat to U.S. national security — a move that outraged the British, Europeans and other longstanding American allies.
Back then too, current President Joe Biden had criticized Trump for alienating America's friends. Last year, the Biden administration reached a deal with the European Union, agreeing to drop the tariffs on EU metals that come in below new import quotas and continuing to tax imports that exceed them.
Critics said all along that Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs did little to address the real problem confronting American producers of steel and aluminum: overproduction by China.
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, Chinese-owned steel companies in Britain must undergo annual audits to ensure that cheap Chinese steel can't slip into the United States tariff-free. American whiskey producers welcomed the resolution to the trade standoff, reported news agency AP.
(With AP Inputs)
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