NABI Press Release (2021-16) – December 7, 2021
Steel and Aluminum Tariffs Statement in Advance of United States and United Kingdom Trade Leaders Consultation in Washington, DC
The National Association of Beverage Importers (NABI) is a member of the Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition that today joined with groups in the United States and United Kingdom in a Statement calling upon the U.S. and UK to reach a settlement on the steel and aluminum trade dispute under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, in order to protect national security. Today USTR Ambassador Katheryn Tai and UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan met in Washington, DC to discuss multiple trade topics on which the UK and U.S. have common interests from the “special relationship” between the two countries. The Statement was issued on the occasion of that meeting.
A wide range of U.S. goods were subject to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU and continued by the UK after Brexit, in response to the U.S. tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) imposed in June 2018. Over the past three and one-half years, the UK hospitality industry has suffered financially under the COVID restrictions, U.S. whiskey exports to the UK have dropped significantly, and the whiskey producer sector in the United States had suffered corresponding economic harms. This dispute must get behind the U.S. and UK in order to move forward on other pressing trade matters including the U.S.- UK Free Trade Agreement negotiations though such an agreement is not a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration.
The USTR Readout of the meeting today between the Ambassador and the Secretary of State for International Trade did not reference the steel and aluminum dispute except in the context of non-market economies such as China and its steel production. The UK Government Readout noted Secretary of State Trevelyan highlighted the need to protect domestic industries, pushing for a resolution on the Section 232 tariffs levied on UK steel and aluminum producers.
The Statement is here.
The USTR Readout of the meeting is here.
The UK Government Readout of the meeting is here.
For more information, please contact NABI at (202) 393-6224 or nabipresident@bevimporters.org