UK to drop tariffs on US goods in bid for trade deal
Image caption the US and EU have been in a long-running trade dispute over support for aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus
The UK will lower tariffs against the US due to support for airlines, in an attempt to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.
In November, the EU hit goo 4bn worth of US goods with duties of up to 25% in retaliation for illegal state aid provided to planemaker Boeing.
It will be suspended in the UK from January 1 - when the current transition period after Brexit ends.
International Trade Minister Liz Truss said the UK wanted to find a compromise.
"As an independent trading nation again, we finally have the power to shape these tariffs,"she said.
She added: "Ultimately, we want to alleviate conflict and achieve a negotiated settlement so that we can deepen our commercial relationship with the United States and draw a line under all this".
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The fight over aircraft support for Boeing and European rival Airbus dates back to outgoing US President Donald Trump's time in office, but trade tensions between the allies have become strained recently.
Donald Trump's administration has hit the European Union (EU) with tariffs on goods worth 7 7.5 bn in retaliation for state support for Airbus. Products such as Scotch whiskey were affected by the ongoing row.
However, Airbus said in a statement on Wednesday that it was "disappointed" the UK took the decision without "securing some mutual action to resolve this dispute."
She said the company, which has a huge factory in the UK manufactures aircraft wings: "a negotiated settlement is the best way to achieve a lasting solution to the governments in the UK, Europe and the United States work together to reach this goal."
But Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Karen Bates described the announcement on Tuesday as an "encouraging step."
"It demonstrates the UK government's determination to ease devastating transatlantic trade disputes that have seen Scotch whisky exports to the US drop by more than 30% in the past year,"she said.
"We now call on the US government to reciprocate by suspending tariffs on British goods arising from the Airbus-Boeing dispute, so that the UK and US industries affected by this dispute can trade freely again."
The UK will maintain the tariffs imposed by the EU after President Trump set tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum in 2018
Downing Street views a trade deal with the US as one of the key prizes on offer as a result of the UK's exit from the EU.
But while the Trump administration said the UK would be "first in line" to reach an agreement once it resigned from the bloc, president-elect Joe Biden was cooler at the idea.
Earlier this year, he said any deal must be "conditional" on respecting the Good Friday Agreement governing the Irish border.
Last week he said he won't enter any trade agreement with a foreign power until the United States says"significant investments here at home and in our workers and in education."
On Tuesday the UK said it would maintain tariffs imposed by the European Union after President Trump set tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum in 2018.
"We are protecting our steel industry against illegal and unfair Tariffs - and we will continue to do so - but we are also showing the United States that we are serious about ending a dispute that doesn't benefit either country,"Ms. Truss said.
The European Union said in November that it still hoped the battle would be settled, and a trade official said a win by President-elect Joe Biden could help" restart talks."
Analysts have previously suggested that Mr Biden will, at the very least, shy away from escalating tariffs and may remove existing tariffs-as well as those applied to steel and aluminum imports
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