US and U.K. getting close to deal to remove metals tariffs

The U.S. and U.K. are nearing a deal to resolve tariffs on British metals, seeking to end a longstanding irritant as the nations work to strengthen trade and integration.

U.K. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan was set to meet with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday. Trevelyan has been in Baltimore this week meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

“We are working very hard,” Raimondo told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. “We are getting close.”

Trevelyan earlier told reporters in Baltimore that progress has been made in recent weeks, and that the pair would see how far they can get on Tuesday.

The Daily Mail reported on Monday night that the U.S. was set to remove the steel tariffs. Raimondo said there’s no deal to announce yet, and a British spokesperson said that while the government is optimistic, an agreement hasn’t yet been concluded.

The Trump administration imposed a 25% steel tariff, along with a 10% duty on aluminum imports, in March 2018 on a range of nations, using a national-security provision in a 1962 trade law.

The negotiations with the U.K. came after the U.S. and the European Union in October brokered a deal for Washington to ease those tariffs, which had been imposed while the U.K. was still a member of the bloc. With Britain having since completed the divorce, the tariffs remained in place for the U.K.