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London, 17 Dec (EFE)
The Donald Trump Administration is negotiating a small agreement with the United Kingdom to reduce trade tariffs, according to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
The British government of Boris Johnson is confident of reaching a broad trade agreement with Trump’s successor, Democrat Joe Biden, once he takes office as U.S. president, but a mini-agreement may facilitate trade sooner, according to the media.
In statements to the public network BBC, Lighthizer felt confident that a small pact with the United Kingdom can reduce tariffs on Scotch whiskey.
“I am talking with (British Minister of International Trade) Liz Truss to work on some kind of agreement. I am confident that we can have some sort of agreement, we don’t have much time left,” said the U.S. representative.
“We have the advantage that both the United States and the United Kingdom, particularly with the current government of the United Kingdom, are not big (countries that) subsidizers, while other countries are more inclined to subsidize, so it would help if we can come to some kind of agreement,” he added.
Scotch whiskey had been particularly affected when the Trump administration imposed tariffs on European Union (EU) products in retaliation for EU support to the Airbus air manufacturer, to which the EU responded with taxes on U.S. products due to subsidies granted by the U.S. to the Boeing aircraft company.
The U.K., which left the EU on January 31st, will suspend these tariffs from January 1st, once the transition period with the European bloc ends on December 31st.
