Last checked at 
(Adds White House statement)
By William James and Andrea Shalal
LONDON/WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The United States on
Thursday agreed to a four-month suspension of retaliatory
tariffs imposed on British goods such as Scotch whisky over a
long-running aircraft subsidy row, with both sides pledging to
use the time to resolve the dispute.
The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump
imposed tariffs on Scotch whisky and other European Union food,
wine and spirits, which the industry says have put its future at
risk.
The multi-billion dollar tit-for-tat tariff battle involving
the United States, the European Union and Britain relates to a
long-running row over state subsidies for planemakers Airbus
and Boeing. Britain is party to the dispute as a
former member of the EU and maker of key Airbus components.
"The United Kingdom and the United States are undertaking a
four-month tariff suspension to ease the burden on industry and
take a bold, joint step towards resolving the longest running
disputes at the World Trade Organization," a joint statement
said.
"This will allow time to focus on negotiating a balanced
settlement to the disputes, and begin seriously addressing the
challenges posed by new entrants to the civil aviation market
from non-market economies, such as China."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the decision
would give both sides time to work out a solution.
"It was meant to de-escalate the issue and create space for
a negotiated settlement to the Airbus and Boeing disputes," she
told a White House briefing.
The tariff truce is separate from broader U.S.-UK talks on a
post-Brexit trade agreement, but sends a positive signal about
those discussions. Psaki declined to say if the U.S.-UK tariff
deal foreshadowed a similar truce with Brussels.
Britain and the United States were hoping to reach a trade
deal before the expiration of fast-track trade promotion
authority granted to the U.S. federal government by Congress in
July. To hit that deadline, U.S. trade officials would have to
notify Congress about a likely trade deal sometime in April.
'LOSE-LOSE' TARIFFS
Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell welcomed the suspension of
what he called "lose-lose tariffs" and said the company supports
all efforts to reach an agreement.
U.S. planemaker Boeing said: "A negotiated settlement
will allow the industry to move forward with a genuinely global
level playing field for aviation."
Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo, the maker of Johnnie
Walker and Talisker whisky, said a permanent solution would help
safeguard thousands of jobs across Scotland and the rest of
Britain.
The agreement to lift tariffs is temporary and applies only
to UK goods. U.S. tariffs will continue to apply to EU goods,
according to a U.S. administration official.
A British official described it as a "real win" which
justified a British decision to diverge from EU policy after
Brexit and ditch tariffs in hopes of reaching an agreement with
the Trump administration before it left office.
At the time, the EU questioned whether Britain had the legal
right to keep those tariffs in place after leaving the bloc.
"I am delighted to say that our American allies – under
their new President and his hard-working staff at the U.S. Trade
Representative - have embraced our move to seek a fair
settlement," she said.
U.S. President Joe Biden's top trade nominee, Katherine Tai,
is headed to confirmation by the full Senate next week.
She told the Senate Finance Committee last month that
Washington had completed four rounds of negotiations with
Britain since announcing the start of talks. She said she would
make it a priority to resolve the aircraft subsidy dispute.
Tai, asked if she would prioritise an agreement with
Britain, told the committee in written responses to questions
released this week that Britain was "an important trading
partner and ally".
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States welcomed
Thursday's decision but said it was disappointed that British
tariffs on U.S. whiskey relating to a separate dispute over
steel were still being applied.
(Reporting by William James in London, Andrea Shalal in
Washington and Aakriti Bhalla and Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru;
editing by Paul Sandle, Jason Neely, Toby Chopra and Sonya
Hepinstall)
