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US suspends retaliatory tariffs on UK exports
Tuesday, 9 March 2021
By Patty Clayton
An agreement has been reached between the UK, the EU and the US to temporarily suspend the higher rate of tariffs imposed on a variety of products as a result of the longstanding AirBus-Boeing dispute.
Higher rate tariffs were imposed from October 2019 at a rate of 25% on the value of the product, and affected a range of agricultural and non-agricultural goods. In terms of the UK agricultural sector, the products impacted most included pork and dairy.
At time that tariffs were imposed, the UK shipped just over 7,700 tonnes of cheese to the US, virtually all of which was subject to the increased tariff. These volumes were only a small proportion of the UK’s total cheese exports. However, exports to the US were typically of higher value, as this is a key export market for organic cheese.
In addition, 230 tonnes of butter were exported in 2018, but they had been increasing through 2019.
For pork, the US reported receiving about 11,200 tonnes of frozen product from the UK, all of which would have been impacted. As with dairy products, this pork tended to be of higher value compared to typical UK pork exports.
Exports of both pork and cheese fell in 2020 compared to 2018, while butter exports actually rose over the period.
Cheese volumes shipped to the US were down by 30%, a reduction of around 2,300 tonnes, and worth around £12m[1] to UK exporters.
For pork, around 4,500 tonnes of affected frozen pork was shipped to the US in 2020, a drop of 60% compared to pre-tariff levels. As some frozen pork has entered the US under different product codes, the net drop in exports was around 5,000 tonnes, worth in the region of £16m1 to exporters.
[1] based on the average export value for shipments to the US in 2020
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