Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she (a) has the legal authority and (b) plans to double retaliatory tariffs on imports of bourbon whiskey from the US after 1 June 2021.

The Government takes its international and domestic legal obligations very seriously. Under Article 8.3 of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Safeguards, the UK has the right to impose rebalancing measures in response to the US’s WTO-inconsistent tariffs on steel and aluminium products, and derivatives. The domestic power to impose such measures is provided in the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.

We are considering whether to introduce additional rebalancing measures from June 2021. Our priority is to defend British interests across all sectors of the economy.