This week, the UK and the USA agreed a new joint approach to the trade conflict over aerospace tariffs. As a result, the United States will temporarily suspend all retaliatory tariffs on direct exports from the UK to the US resulting from the Airbus dispute for four months, in an effort to reach a negotiated solution to the 16- year long dispute by the fourth of July. This announcement follows the decision by the UK Government in December 2020 to suspend retaliatory tariffs in the Boeing dispute.
Subsequent to this announcement, the US and the European Union have also further de-escalated the trade dispute by suspending tariffs too, following the UK's lead.
Airbus, and by extension the Airbus factory in Broughton and those who are employed or in employment linked with the factory, will directly benefit from this suspension. This suspension of tariffs is therefore particularly welcome given recent events. I know from first-hand experience that the pandemic has been tough on Airbus and the aerospace industry more generally, so I am sure that this news will be appreciated by many in Wrexham and North Wales.
This new announcement will also pave the way for other businesses in Wrexham to have greater access to the USA market. At the beginning of this year, JCB predicted strong demand in North America following the Coronavirus pandemic, putting them in a position to protect their workforce and recover from the pandemic. However, machinery businesses had been targeted by the tariffs; in 2018, the UK exported around £61m of construction vehicles and tools, representing an significant amount of trade.
As such, the announcement on UK-USA trade will likely further improve business prospects for JCB and employment opportunities at their Wrexham factory, by encouraging further trade with the USA. Indeed, in Wrexham, JCB have already announced 20 new roles in preparation for an increase in production as the pandemic subsides so I hope that this announcement on trade will bode well for the future and allow for further growth.
Whilst this is currently only a suspension of tariffs, I hope that it can be used as a building block towards closer economic links with the USA, our biggest trading partner, and potentially a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). An FTA would reap important rewards for many in Wrexham.
Preceding this news on UK-US trade, the Secretary of State for Trade, Liz Truss, had also announced several other new trade agreements, such as the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) with India. As part of the ETP, it was announced that Wockhardt in Wrexham would receive increased investment. This will include 40 new jobs, and the extension until August 2022 of the contract with the UK Government for the ‘fill and finish’ of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Again, this is another vote of trust from the UK Government in Wrexham and shows the advantages of being an independent trading nation.
When the UK left the European Union, the UK Government promised a global outlook: these announcements are that promise in action. With the benefits this will bring to Wrexham and North Wales, I am pleased to see that ‘Global Britain’ is delivering.
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