The decision to suspend retaliatory tariffs on Britain creates room for a negotiated settlement of the Airbus-Boeing dispute, White House spokesman Leonardo Psaki said. (Photo credit: video screenshot)
The U.S. announced on April 4 a four-month suspension of retaliatory tariffs on British goods such as Scotch whisky, with both sides promising to use the period to resolve the dispute over aircraft subsidies that led to the tariff initiative and to begin responding to the challenges posed by new competitors in the civil aviation market, such as China.
According to Reuters, the United States and the European Union have long been at odds over state subsidies for their respective aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus. The reason why the UK is involved in this dispute is because the UK originally belongs to the EU, and Airbus aircraft wings and some parts in the UK production, but the UK has officially left the EU at the end of last year.
According to a joint statement released by the two sides on the 4th, “the UK and the US will suspend tariffs for four months to ease the burden on the industry and work together to take decisive steps to resolve this long-running dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO).”
The statement added, “This will give us Time to negotiate a balanced solution to the dispute and begin to seriously address the challenges posed by new entrants from non-market economies such as China.”
But a U.S. official also said punitive tariffs would continue on EU products.
The U.K. and U.S. reportedly hope to reach a trade deal before the expiration of the “fast track” trade promotion authority granted to the federal government by the U.S. Congress in July.
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