Airbus: “Illegal” Subsidies to Boeing Cost Us $4B Annually

The European Union won the right to impose tariffs on $4 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation against subsidies for plane maker Boeing.

The World Trade Center (WTO) on Tuesday announced its decision that the European Union (EU) will be authorised to impose tariffs on $4 billion of U.S. goods exported to the EU every year. “On 13 October, a WTO arbitrator issued its decision on the level of countermeasures the European Union may request with respect to the United States in ‘United States — Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft — Second Complaint’,” WTO said in a statement.

This follows four previous WTO panel and appellate reports from 2011 to 2019 confirming that subsidies to Boeing violate WTO rules. The decision finds that illegal subsidies to Boeing cost Airbus $4 billion dollars in lost sales and market share annually, Airbus said in a release.

The EU Commission has already completed its public consultation on the planned countermeasures and has published the preliminary list of U.S. products they will apply to, including Boeing aircraft.

“Airbus did not start this WTO dispute, and we do not wish to continue the harm to the customers and suppliers of the aviation industry and to all other sectors impacted,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO. “As we have already demonstrated, we remain prepared and ready to support a negotiation process that leads to a fair settlement. The WTO has now spoken, the EU can implement its countermeasures. It is time to find a solution now so that tariffs can be removed on both sides of the Atlantic.”

This could lead to negotiators from both sides to kick-off discussions to resolve the 16-year legal battle involving subsidies provided by US and EU to their respective plane makers.

WTO last year allowed Washington to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in EU goods over state support for Airbus, which has sites in Britain, France, Germany and Spain.