China News Service, March 5 (Reuters)-The United States agreed on the 4th to suspend the retaliatory tariffs imposed on British products such as Scotch whisky for four months. The two sides pledged to use this time to resolve the aircraft subsidy dispute that led to the tariffs.

Data map: Boeing aircraft.

　　This multi-billion-dollar tariff battle stems from differences in government subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, involving the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom, as a former member of the European Union and a major part manufacturer of Airbus, is also a party to the dispute.

　　"The United Kingdom and the United States will suspend the collection of tariffs for four months to ease the burden on the industry and jointly take decisive measures to resolve this longest-running dispute in the WTO," the two sides said in a joint statement.

　　White House spokesman Psaki said that this decision will give both parties time to work out a solution.

　　According to the report, the US-UK tariff truce is not the same thing as the two countries' negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement after Brexit, but it sends a positive signal to the negotiation of the trade agreement.

Psaki did not say whether the "truce" of U.S. and British tariffs foreshadows that the U.S. will also reach a similar move with the European Union.

　　The US-Europe aviation subsidy dispute has a long history.

In 2004, the United States filed a lawsuit with the WTO, accusing the European Union of providing illegal subsidies to Airbus in various forms.

The European Union subsequently sued the WTO to provide illegal subsidies to Boeing by the US government.

In response to this, the WTO has ruled that both the United States and the European Union have provided illegal subsidies to their respective aviation companies.

　　In October 2019, the World Trade Organization authorized the United States to impose tariffs and other retaliatory measures against about 7.5 billion U.S. dollars of EU goods and services exported to the United States each year.

In October 2020, the WTO approved the EU to impose tariffs on approximately US$4 billion in U.S. goods.