US and UK officials have agreed to suspend retaliatory tariffs on goods such as Scotch Whisky for five years after a long-running dispute, cabinet minister Liz Truss has announced.
It comes after a marked de-escalation in the 17-year row over aerospace tariffs in March, with both countries agreeing at the time to a temporary four-month suspension of the 25 per cent duty.
The new agreement, according to the Department for International Trade, agrees to “suspend retaliatory tariffs for 5 years”, in a move that was welcomed by whisky producers in the UK.
In a statement on Thursday, Ms Truss, the international trade secretary, said: “This deal will support jobs across the country and is fantastic news for major employers like Scotch whisky and aerospace.
“We took the decision to de-escalate the dispute at the start of the year when we became a sovereign trading nation, which was crucial to breaking the deadlock and bringing the US to the table”.
“Today’s deal draws a line under an incredibly damaging issues and means we can focus on taking our trading relationship with the US to the next level,” she added.
Earlier this year, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) described the previous 25 per cent tariff rate as “unsustainable” and highlighted data showing exports of single match Scotch whisky to the US had fallen by a third.
Karen Betts, chief executive of the SWA, said: “This is very good news for Scotch whisky.
“The past two years have been extremely damaging for our industry, with the loss of over £600 million in exports to the United States caused by a 25% tariff on single malt Scotch whisky imposed as a result of the long-running dispute between US and European aircraft manufacturers.”
Former US president Donald Trump imposed the now suspended tariffs in 2019 in retaliation at European Union state support for the aerospace group Airbus. In response, the bloc imposed penalties of up to $4 billion on US goods and services. Other UK industries including construction vehicles and cashmere were also affected by the dispute.
Under president Joe Biden’s new administration a short suspension of the tariffs was agreed with both the UK and the EU for four months.
Earlier this week, the EU also reached an agreement with the US, with a deal similar to the UK to suspend retaliatory tariffs for five years, affecting items such as wine and cheese from the EU.
