US, Britain strike trade deal on steel, aluminum

WASHINGTON - The United States and Britain on Tuesday struck a trade deal to resolve a four-year-long dispute initiated by former President Donald Trump over US tariffs on British steel and aluminum.

The deal would allow "historically-based sustainable volumes" of British steel and aluminum products to enter the US market without applying Section 232 tariffs, according to a joint statement by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

The deal will also lift retaliatory tariffs on over 500 million US dollars worth of US exports to Britain, including distilled spirits, various agricultural products and consumer goods, the statement said.

Citing national security concerns, the previous Trump administration unilaterally imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports in 2018, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, drawing strong opposition domestically and abroad.

In recent months, the Biden administration signed similar deals with the European Union and Japan to scrap tariffs on steel and aluminum in an attempt to mend ties frayed by Trump's trade war with multiple trading partners.

The trade deal will benefit America's steel and aluminum industries and workers by protecting manufacturing, as well as consumers by easing inflationary pressures in the United States, Raimondo said.

British Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is on a visit to the United States, said on Twitter that the deal is "good news for our vital industries who were unfairly hit," noting that British producers can enjoy tariff-free access to the US market again.