The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on 23 June that it is proposing to “carousel” its retaliation list in the US-EU large aircraft dispute. This US action will potentially remove products currently on the list and modify the scope to include new products, an expanded number of countries, and a possible increase in retaliatory tariffs applied[1].

These proposed modifications are the latest move in a series of actions in the US-EU large aircraft dispute. On 13 July 2018, the WTO ruled in favor of the United States and approved retaliatory measures against the EU due to subsidies provided for the Airbus company and in EU domestic commercial aircraft industry, which were deemed inconsistent with international trade obligations[2]. Following an initial investigation which began on 12 April 2019, a finalized list of products from EU countries subject to additional tariffs came into effect on 18 October 2019 [3]. On 14 February 2020, the USTR announced a further revised list, including an additional tariff on aircrafts and parts from 10% to 15%, as well as other modifications.

​After a stunning, landslide victory for Boris Johnson and his Conservative party in the 12 December UK general election, Britain is on course to leave the European Union on 31 January 2020. The British people have given Prime Minister Johnson a parliamentary majority of 80 seats and a clear mandate to “Get Brexit Done,” the slogan of his re-election campaign. All hopes for a last-ditch effort to keep the UK in or to have a second referendum have been dashed, but the Brexit process is far from over. Brexit will not be “done” on 31 January, in fact, the harder part may be yet to come.

​With the British departure all but assured for the end of January, what’s next for the trade relationship between the UK and the EU and how does this impact potential trade negotiations for a US-UK trade agreement? In this post, I try my best to answer these questions and to give more context on how Brexit could impact US exporters.