London has reached an agreement with Washington to end the trade dispute over subsidies granted to Airbus and Boeing, the British Department for International Trade said Thursday, two days after a similar deal between the EU and the United States.
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The agreement provides for a five-year suspension of punitive tariffs, which particularly affected Scotch whiskey, according to a statement.
The UK settled the 17-year-old conflict after a meeting in the UK capital between International Trade Minister Lizz Truss and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
London and Washington had already signed a truce earlier this year, giving themselves some time to find a longer-term agreement.
The US tariffs, implemented in October 2019, had notably penalized the Scotch whiskey sector, which estimates it has lost hundreds of millions of pounds in turnover.
EU parallel negotiation
The UK hoped that a settlement to this dispute could facilitate talks on a post-Brexit trade deal with the US, which have made little progress.
With the British exit from the single European market, effective since January 1, the United Kingdom has negotiated an agreement with the United States, in parallel with the EU which also announced on Tuesday the suspension for five years. punitive customs.
Read also: Brexit: the puzzle of exemption from customs duties
Washington and Brussels have been opposed since 2004 before the World Trade Organization (WTO) on illegal public aid paid to their two aircraft manufacturers.
Under the administration of former President Donald Trump, Washington was authorized by the WTO in October 2019 to impose taxes on nearly 7.5 billion dollars (6.8 billion euros) of goods and services. Europeans imported each year, up to 25% for wines and spirits, and 15% for Airbus aircraft.
