Brussels, 27/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The to and fro continues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with a criss-crossing of EU and US complaints against subsidies paid out to the civilian aircraft manufacturers, Airbus (EU) and Boeing (US).
On Thursday 27 September, the EU asked the WTO to allow the imposition of countermeasures against the United States amounting to $12 billion annually, if the US compliance plan submitted on 24 September does not meet, as the EU considers, the WTO verdict on public subsidies to Boeing. The Commission explains that the amount is based on estimates of the damages suffered by the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus due to “unfair and biased competition from the US industry”. Countermeasures could take the form of a suspension of EU tariff concessions to the United States on a number of products.
As the US administration had done in April, in response to the European compliance plan relating to the WTO verdict in respect of the United States' complaint against subsidies to Airbus (DS 316), the European Commission cast doubt upon the fact that the United States had brought its subsidies to the aircraft manufacturer Boeing into line with the WTO verdict on the complaint filed by the EU (DS 353). The EU thus follows the same procedure as the United States which also called, in the context of a complaint filed, for the right to impose trade countermeasures for an annual €10 billion on European exports if the WTO deems that the aid programme to Airbus has not been eliminated in line with its verdict of May 2011. (EH/transl.jl)