U.S., EU Agree Truce on Boeing-Airbus Trade Row

Date: 16 June 2021 - 22:07

News ID: ۹۱۳۸۰

LONDON (Dispatches) - The U.S. and the EU have agreed a truce in a 17-year trade dispute over subsidies for Boeing and Airbus.
Under the agreement, both sides will remove taxes on $11.5bn of goods, including wine, cheese and tractors, for five years.
Those tariffs, imposed by both sides as punishment in the escalating dispute, had already been suspended in March while they tried to resolve matters.
In March the U.S. suspended tariffs on UK imports arising from the dispute.
U.S. President Joe Biden had a summit with European Union (EU) leaders, where he is trying to bolster support for his more assertive stance towards Russia and China, and move away from Trump-era trade rows.
“I think we have great opportunities to work closely with the EU as well as NATO and we feel quite good about it,” President Biden said.
Both Boeing and Airbus said they welcomed the truce. Airbus said that the agreement “will provide the basis to create a level-playing field which we have advocated for since the start of this dispute”.
“It will also avoid lose-lose tariffs that are only adding to the many challenges that our industry faces,” the planemaker added.
The dispute between the U.S. and EU has escalated over many years, with both sides accusing the other of unfairly propping up their flagship planemakers.
In 2019, the World Trade Organization ruled that the EU had illegally provided support to Airbus, clearing the way for the US to respond with tariffs worth up to $7.5bn (£5.4bn) in annual trade.