The United States on Tuesday announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by former President Donald Trump.

"By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminum from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Washington and London in January announced the start of negotiations to end the dispute, which began in 2018 when Trump imposed levies of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports from Britain and other nations to protect U.S. industry.

Britain's International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who met with Raimondo in Washington to finalize the agreement, said the deal was "good news for our steel and aluminum industries who have been unfairly hit by these tariffs, and the 80,000 people employed across the sector."

Under the deal announced Tuesday, Britain will lift retaliatory tariffs it imposed on $500 million in American imports, including alcohol and consumer goods, the statement said.

The Biden administration in October reached a deal to end the tariffs on the European Union, and in early February did the same with Japan.

(With input from AFP)