WASHINGTON: The United States will ease tariffs on steel imported from Japan, officials announced Monday, in the latest move by President Joe Biden’s administration to resolve trade disputes started under his predecessor Donald Trump.

Beginning in April, Japan will be allowed to pay lower duties on exports of up to 1.25 million tons of steel per year to the United States.

The decision ends the 25 percent levies Trump imposed in June 2018 on metal imports from the country and others, citing national security concerns.

The dispute with Japan was one of a number Trump initiated during his time in office that Biden has worked to resolve, and follows an agreement Washington reached last year to end the metal tariffs on the European Union. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the deal would “protect a vital American industry, our workers and their families,” as well as level the playing field against China.