After the USA imposed punitive tariffs on EU imports due to Airbus subsidies, the EU is also allowed to impose punitive tariffs against the USA, which illegally promoted Boeing.
Geneva - Due to several years of unauthorized
subsidies
for the
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing
, the
European Union can
now
impose
punitive tariffs
on US imports amounting to almost four
billion
dollars (3.4 billion euros) per year.
Independent
arbitrators
have now determined this, as the
World Trade Organization (WTO)
announced in
Geneva
on Tuesday
.
The arbitrators remained with the amount far below the demands of the
EU
.
She had
claimed
twelve
billion
dollars in damage, and in conversation with the
arbitrators,
then 8.6 billion, because
Airbus
had been disadvantaged for years
by government aid for competitor
Boeing
.
In a similar case, the
US
arbitrators
had already
approved
punitive tariffs on products from the
EU
amounting to 7.5 billion dollars
due to illegal subsidies for Airbus
.
Punitive tariffs on imports: USA did not stop subsidies
The verdict was the preliminary line under the two disputes between the
trading giants USA and EU
, which have lasted for more than 15 years.
An appeal is excluded.
The
EU
has already
threatened
taxes
on ketchup, game consoles and other products.
The
WTO mediators
had already concluded in March 2019 that the
USA
had
not stopped
government aid to
Boeing
that
had been criticized for years before
.
Since then, arbitrators have been busy
determining
the amount of
punitive tariffs
allowed
.
The
subsidies
included research grants from the NASA space agency and tax breaks.
The former bestseller of the Americans, the long-haul
aircraft Boeing 787
, called the Dreamliner,
was also subsidized by the state
.
. @ WTO to authorize tariffs on $ 4 billion of US exports to the European Union in the Boeing Subsidies Case https://t.co/xf9HgnuEZ8
- Airbus PRESS (@AirbusPRESS) October 13, 2020
A
good 15 years ago, the
EU
and the
USA
sued
each other
at the
WTO
for aid to
Airbus
and
Boeing
.
The
US
lawsuit
against
Airbus
was closed a little faster.
As early as May 2018, arbitrators discovered in the
Airbus case
that Brussels had not stopped the subsidies complained of.
They approved the
United States
in October 2019 so
punitive tariffs *
on goods worth $ 7.5 billion a year.
That was the highest amount
approved
since the
WTO was founded in
1995.
The
USA
implemented the judgment immediately: They made the import of cheese, butter and wine and many other products from Europe more expensive, as well as components for the aviation industry.
The
punitive tariffs
are between 15 and 25 percent.
They primarily punished the countries that
paid
Airbus subsidies
: Germany, France, Spain and the UK.
Punitive tariffs remain allowed until the subsidies have ended
The winning party in a
trade
dispute
may
levy
punitive tariffs
until the losing party
has eliminated the
subsidies in question
.
The
EU has been
asserting for months that all
Airbus aid has
been suspended and that the
punitive tariffs
must be stopped.
She has called for a new assessment by the
arbitrators
, but her motion is
not
making
any progress
in the crisis-ridden
WTO
.
The
USA also
say that the
Boeing aid
complained
about
no longer exists.
The
EU
last offered
the
US
in July to negotiate a settlement of the disputes and an end to all punitive tariffs.
Washington initially did not respond.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © Ted S. Warren / AP / dpa-Bildfunk