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UK and US suspend trade dispute
Wednesday, 23 June 2021
By David Swales
An agreement has been reached between the UK and the US to temporarily suspend the tariffs imposed on a variety of products as a result of the longstanding Airbus-Boeing dispute for five years.
Higher rate tariffs were imposed on a range of products from October 2019, at a rate of 25% on the value of the product. In terms of the agricultural sector, the products impacted most included pork and dairy. There was already a four-month temporary suspension in place from March 2021.
When the tariffs were imposed, the key products affected included:
- Whisky and other spirits where exports dropped by 26% from £1.4 billion in 2019 to just over £1 billion last year.
- Over £32 million of pork, with higher welfare pork the focus. This fell 43% to £19 million last year.
- Over £54 million of cheese, with the US market key for organic exports. This fell 20% to £44 million last year
- Close to £7 million of butter, which fell 27% to £5 million last year
What’s next?
The agreement reached involves a five-year suspension – but both parties will be looking to reach a longer-term solution. Earlier this year talks on a UK free-trade deal with the US stopped, and there are no details on when they might resume. The US is key market for the UK accounting for around a sixth of the UK’s total trade - more than 10 times as much as with Australia, with whom a deal was struck earlier in the week.
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