US Signals It Will Not Accept Latest Airbus Development to End Tariffs
The U.S. said that it has received no details on changes to subsidized loans for Airbus from France and Spain, so “no one can take seriously” that the changes addressed the entirety of the World Trade Organization decision that the subsidies distorted the market. The U.S. made the comments at a Dispute Settlement Committee in Geneva July 29, a Geneva trade official said. The U.S. representative also said the European Union didn't address the other six measures the WTO identified as distorting. The EU had said last week that the changes resolved the case, so the 15% tariffs on Airbus planes and 25% tariffs on other EU exports should be removed immediately (see 2007240057).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
China tried to head off more tariffs against its exports by the U.S. at the same meeting. The U.S. had said it wanted to hike tariffs on $1.3 billion worth of trade because China hasn't fixed its agriculture subsidies; that question is now going to arbitration, and China said the U.S. has no right to act until that process is done.
About 20 countries complained that the U.S. continues to block appellate body appointments. “Several directly criticized the United States for failing to put forward its own solutions and perpetuating the impasse,” a Geneva trade official said. The EU also criticized a U.S. statement that an alternate appellate approach -- which the EU, China, Canada and others have agreed to follow -- is just as bad as the appellate body. The EU said there has been no decision by this alternate group, and questioned how the U.S. could say that it is acting as the appellate body did.