The US has rejected a UK plea for face-to-face talks to take away punishing tariffs on UK metal, in a humiliation for Boris Johnson.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the commerce secretary, urged her counterpart in Washington to leap on a airplane after the US refused to strike a deal due to its fears about threats to the Northern Eire Protocol.
However Gina Raimondo, the US commerce secretary, has now advised the Division for Worldwide Commerce (DIT), that she is just too busy to journey to the UK at current.
“Whereas Secretary Raimondo appreciates the sort invitation, she’s not able to journey to London in-person at the moment,” a spokesperson advised the Politico web site.
The snub is a significant embarrassment for the federal government as a result of the EU and UK reached an settlement in October to droop the tariffs – but British exporters are nonetheless compelled to pay the levies.
The 25 per cent tariff on metal and 10 per cent tariff on aluminium had been initially imposed by Donald Trump’s administration in a dispute with the EU.
Labour accused the prime minister of being “distracted with making excuses concerning the surprising Downing Road events”, somewhat than the plight of steelmakers.
“That is bitterly disappointing information for the UK’s metal and aluminium producers and for the numerous jobs, livelihoods, and companies who depend on this business,” mentioned Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow commerce secretary.
“Labour has been calling for the prime minister to personally intervene with the US president and present the management this situation requires.”
A DIT supply mentioned Ms Trevelyan hoped to revive the discussions remotely, however there is no such thing as a date for any talks to happen.
Final month, a communication despatched by a US commerce official revealed the metal talks are on maintain due to authorities menace to tear up the post-Brexit Protocol.
Joe Biden, who has Irish heritage, has made clear his dedication to guard the Good Friday Settlement – the aim of the Protocol, in avoiding a tough land border – within the fallout
The DIT supply mentioned: “Given the present uncertainty across the Omicron variant, it’s comprehensible that international ministers will not be capable of decide to worldwide journey for in-person conferences.
“The commerce secretary prolonged a transparent and optimistic invite to Secretary Raimondo to start discussions to resolve the metal tariff situation in January, together with by way of digital means.
“We preserve the pressing have to make progress on this situation to raise the prospect of additional retaliatory tariffs on US items and stay up for digital discussions with the US in view of the worldwide pandemic.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
