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Transatlantic Trade Tensions Build after Boeing Tariffs Announcement

Nicolas Pinault

   PARIS - The European Union is poised to impose tariffs on up to $4
   billion worth of U.S. goods and services in a dispute over alleged
   subsidies to U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing. But there are signs of
   a compromise in the coming weeks.

   EU officials on Monday announced they would move forward with plans to
   impose tariffs on a list of U.S. products that could include dried
   fruit, tobacco, rum, motorcycle parts and tractors.

   The announcement came after the World Trade Organization ruled that
   Boeing had an unfair advantage over European airplane maker Airbus by
   receiving tax breaks from the U.S. state of Washington, where Boeing
   once had its headquarters.

   U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the United States is
   disappointed by the EU action, which followed the World Trade
   Organization's approval last year of U.S. tariffs on up to $7.5 billion
   dollars in European goods to punish the EU for subsidizing Boeing rival
   Airbus.

   The transatlantic hostilities have continued since 2004, when
   Washington declared that a 1992 U.S.-EU agreement governing subsidies
   in the aircraft industry was dead.

   Xavier Tytelman is an aeronautical consultant.

   He said the issue is very complicated and it is not only a matter of
   direct subsidies or tax break to one constructor or another. Each camp,
   he said, could also see as illegal, for example, the size of a runaway
   extension, or the construction of a roundabout. Europeans and Americans
   concluded very detailed investigations to determine if the 1992
   agreement was respected.

   But some see hope for a compromise between Washington and Brussels.
   France's economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, spoke on CNN recently.

   In that interview, Le Maire said he thinks a compromise can be reached
   in the coming weeks and he sees the possibility of building an
   agreement between the United States and Europe. The minister also told
   CNN he does not underestimate the difficulties in bridging the gap
   between the two positions but says France will not spare any efforts to
   reach a compromise in the Boeing Airbus case in the interest of both
   the U.S. and Europe.

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