EU trade chief welcomes EU/US deal: 'With this agreement, we are grounding the Airbus-Boeing dispute'

In a landmark decision the EU and US have reached an agreement to remove the tariffs each imposed in their long-running dispute over illegal aid to aircraft makers, for a five-year period.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The agreement we have filed now really opens a new chapter in our relationship, because we move from litigation to co-operation on aircraft, after almost 20 years of disputes. It is the longest trade dispute in the history of WTO.”

The EU and US have also adopted a collaborative framework on large civil aircraft. The EU’s Executive Vice President for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said: “We are committed to making this framework work to promote a level playing field to address shared challenges, overcome long standing differences and avoid future litigation.”

The new spirit of co-operation was welcomed by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai: “The US team came to Brussels determined to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to reach an agreement on the long-standing dispute between Boeing and Airbus.”

Chairman of the International Trade Committee in the European Parliament Bernd Lange MEP (S&D, DE) welcomed the agreement: “This is a relief for many sectors on both sides of the Atlantic that have suffered the negative consequences of the dispute. While the sides cleared a landing zone in early March by agreeing to a four-month suspension of tariffs, we were not sure whether the 11 July deadline was sufficient to solve this long-standing dispute.

“While we do not have a final solution yet, I nevertheless strongly welcome this deal. The creation of a working group and a ministerial dialogue on subsidies will ensure we have the right platforms to find a permanent negotiated solution in the future.” Lange added that there was also a new framework to address the challenges posed by large civil aircraft produced in non-market economies, referring principally to China.

Background

In the dispute over illegal aid to Airbus and Boeing, each side levied WTO-authorized retaliatory tariffs against the other. The EU hit €3.4 billion ($4bn) of American products including salmon, cheddar cheese, chocolate and ketchup in November 2021, after the US government had imposed levies on €6.8bn ($7.5bn) of imports - among others, wine, cheese and olive oil - from the EU. In March 2021, the EU and the US announced that they would suspend retaliatory tariffs until 11 July to allow time to negotiate a deal.

Share this article: