THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE US DO NOT REACH AN AGREEMENT TO RELIEVE TARIFFS ON STEEL AND ALUMINUM

 There is no agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.

The US and UK have reached a deal to ease tariffs on British steel and aluminum, resolving a long-standing vex as the nations work to strengthen trade and integration.

The deal will allow 500,000 metric tons of steel to be imported duty-free a year, with higher amounts subject to tariffs, beginning June 1, the Commerce Department said in a statement. The UK will also end retaliatory tariffs on more than $500 million in US exports, including distilled spirits, agricultural products and consumer goods.

The deal will require steel that qualifies for duty-free treatment to be smelted and poured in the UK, although some processing is allowed in the European Union. It also requires that any British steel company owned by a Chinese entity must undergo an audit of financial records to assess the influence of the Chinese government and share the results with the US.

The deal came after a meeting between UK International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington on Tuesday. Raimondo said the deal will help counter unfair trade practices by countries like China and ease inflationary pressures.

“By allowing duty-free flow of steel and aluminum from the UK, we further alleviate the gap between supply and demand for these products in the US,” Raimondo said.

The Trump administration imposed a 25% steel tariff, along with a 10% tariff on aluminum imports, in March 2018 on a number of nations, using a national security provision in a 1962 trade law. In October , the European Union and the US negotiated a deal for Washington to ease those tariffs, but the tariffs remained on the UK due to the nation's departure from the bloc.

The United States also reached a similar agreement with Japan in February.

Trevelyan had been in Baltimore this week meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

Tai said in a statement that the nations also agreed to remain engaged in the threat posed by carbon-intensive non-commercial overcapacity in the steel and aluminum industries, an area where China is seen as the biggest culprit.

UK steel imports totaled 246,893 tonnes, or just under 1% of all steel imported by the US. 232 Tariffs