US Tariffs Suspended for 4 months

The US has agreed to suspend tariffs on UK goods including single malt whiskies that were imposed in retaliation over subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus.

MD Patricia Dillon has campaigned for many months with the SWA to achieve this outcome.

Tariffs will also be lifted on UK cheese, cashmere and machinery.
The duties will be suspended for four months while the two sides seek a long-term settlement.
On 1 January, the UK dropped its own tariffs on some US goods, put in place over a related dispute about US subsidies to Boeing.
It is the latest twist in a decades-old trade row that has seen the EU and the US target billions of dollars worth of each other's exports with taxes.
The UK is part of the dispute as a former EU member. Airbus makes wings and other parts in the UK, but assembles its commercial aircraft in the EU.

It has hit Scotch whisky producers particularly hard as the US is a key export market. Distilleries have reported £500m of losses since 2019 due to the tariffs.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the trade truce, due to come into force on Monday, would boost British business.

Karen Betts, head of the Scotch Whisky Association, called the suspension "fabulous news".
"The tariff on single malt Scotch whisky exports to the US has been doing real damage to Scotch whisky in the 16 months it has been in place, with exports to the US falling by 35%," she said.
"So today, everyone in our industry - from small companies to large - is breathing a sigh of relief."

Suspending these tariffs for four months is extremely helpful. The Government and the new US administration will now need to work hard on finding a negotiated settlement on this long running dispute.  

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