The EU and the US are ready to resolve the Airbus-Boeing trade dispute after 17 years

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The EU and the US are ready to resolve the 17-year dispute over airline subsidies by removing the threat of punitive tariffs on billions of dollars from their economies to boost transatlantic relations.
Diplomats and officials confirmed on Monday night that the two-day intensive negotiations in Brussels had left the EU and Biden administration on the verge of ratifying an agreement on subsidy rules for Airbus and Boeing. The breakthrough ends on Tuesday at US President Joe Biden’s first EU-US meeting in Brussels.
People close to the talks said on Monday night that Airbus was consulting with the governments of the three EU countries – Germany, France and Spain – on the deal, which could have been confirmed on Tuesday morning if there were no last-minute hurdles. .
It is likely that the agreement, which could still be dissolved, looks like a multi-year agreement on subsidy limits, those who reported the talks said.
A breakthrough would lift the fog of uncertainty hanging over the airline sector, removing the threat that EU and US consumer goods could once again face penal tariffs due to the conflict.
These obligations – ranging from French wines to US alcohols and sugar cane molasses – extended Four months after the EU and the US agreed in March to lift and start negotiations on a solution.
The Airbus-Boeing conflict is one of the longest-running battles in the history of the World Trade Organization. Both sides agreed that they could pay more and more badly because they wanted to work more closely together to confront China’s model of state capitalism. .
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis held talks with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo in the days leading up to the summit, as the two sides made efforts to reach an agreement.
Tai’s office refused.
Companies on both sides of the Atlantic have long demanded a solution. The issue took on greater urgency in October 2019 after the US hit additional tariffs on European exports of $ 7.5 billion, the EU last year imposed additional U.S. taxes on U.S. exports of $ 4 billion. The two sets of measures were in line with the WTO decisions in favor of each side.
Both sides have found over the years that they are not properly enforcing the WTO rulings on illegal subsidies for their aircraft manufacturing champions.
But EU and US trade officials stressed the complexity of the issue – each side claimed that the other had complied with WTO decisions. The nature of subsidies on both sides of the Atlantic is also very different – EU officials have cited large US defense contracts as an example.
The end of the Airbus-Boeing conflict would remove some of the key irritants in trade relations, but others remain.
Brussels last month continued to raise tariffs on US goods as a gesture of goodwill in a continuing disagreement Trump-era fares On European steel and aluminum.
Neither of the two economies should fully bury their differences digital taxes, the topic is now linked to broader international dialogues.
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