Britain has threatened to impose counter -tariffs on U.S. goods if the Biden administration does not abolish tariffs imposed during the Trump era on steel and aluminum from the UK.
UK Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has told trade representative Katherine Tai and US Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo that her party is ready to increase existing counter-tariffs on US goods such as whiskey, cosmetics and clothing.
According to a report released by the Financial Times, the UK initially did not want to implement this measure. Still, they get a lot of pressure from within the country saying that the tariffs imposed by Trump are unfair.
During his visit to Washington, Trevelyan told U.S. officials that he was considering expanding the range of products that would be subject to tariffs.
In October, the US and the European Union (EU) agreed to abolish tariffs on steel and aluminum. The deal has provided an advantage for the blook to get out of Trump’s previous tariff burden.
However, the UK still has to bear the burden of tariffs, causing British steelmakers to suffer losses as they still face high taxes on exports to the US.
Last week, a US Commerce Department official said that Washington was considering whether to resume tariff negotiations with the UK.
This is because, they are concerned that the Boris Johnson administration may trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, thus endangering peace in Northern Ireland and jeopardizing good EU relations with President Joe Biden.
