Readout of meeting between DIT and DCMS Secretaries of State and US Commerce Secretary

The UK Secretaries of State for International Trade and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport met the US Commerce Secretary in Washington DC.

The Secretary of State for International Trade and the Commerce Secretary discussed finding a way forward to allow both sides to engage in consultations on steel and aluminium early in the New Year, with a view to combating global excess capacity and addressing outstanding concerns on US tariffs and UK rebalancing measures.

The International Trade Secretary expressed her determination to find a solution that would be mutually beneficial for workers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, and would remove the need for retaliatory tariffs levied on US goods in the UK. She invited the Commerce Secretary to London for further discussions in January.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Commerce Secretary agreed to deepen the UK-US partnership on data, including promoting the trustworthy use and exchange of data across borders and bringing the benefits of data-driven technology to people and businesses.

The two ministers both recognised the fundamental importance of trusted international data use and transfers for scientific and technological innovation, improving public services, and fighting global challenges such as climate change and the Covid pandemic.

They welcomed the significant progress made by their respective teams to realise these benefits, and committed to continuing to work towards a UK-US adequacy decision – the status which guarantees high standards of protection for data so it can be freely transferred between two countries.

They agreed that the two countries should deepen cooperation on the global challenges and opportunities around data.