The UK has announced it is to suspend the retaliatory tariffs imposed on US goods as part of the ongoing dispute over aircraft subsidies. The suspension, from the beginning of next year, is an attempt to ‘de-escalate’ a damaging multi-year international trade conflict the trade department said.
The decision fires the starting gun on the UK’s divergence from European Union trade policy and will come into effect on the day its exit from the bloc’s rules and regulations is completed. The tit-for-tat tariff battle between the EU and the US relates to a long-running dispute over state subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus.
Liz Truss, the UK’s trade minister, said in a statement ‘Ultimately, we want to de-escalate the conflict and come to a negotiated settlement so we can deepen our trading relationship with the US and draw a line under all this’.
The UK decision was welcomed by Boeing, who said the move was ‘good news’ for aviation in the US and UK. ‘This suspension of harmful tariffs allows us to work with the UK as a global commercial aviation hub and offers continued support for our employees in Puget Sound and Charleston’ the company said in a statement, adding ‘We support a level playing field with free and fair competition across aviation’.