In the absence of signs of goodwill on the part of Washington to identify a negotiated solution to disputes over support for Airbus and Boeing aircraft manufacturers, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström expressed concern about the upcoming transatlantic trade escalation.
On 13 September, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body Panel, which arbitrated the dispute between the European Union and the United States over the support granted to the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, forwarded its confidential report to the parties.
They have about two weeks to review and comment on it before it is formally adopted and made public - and the amount of compensation Washington is entitled to receive is revealed (see EUROPE 12233/15, 12257/13, 12287/12).
The panel should simultaneously endorse the list of US countermeasures.
However, as both parties to this dispute have been pointed out by the WTO for their support to their respective aircraft manufacturers, the EU was seeking a negotiated solution.
"We have offered the US to try and make a deal", Malmström confirmed in an interview on September 16, adding that a "fairly detailed proposal" had been sent to Washington.
"So far, unfortunately, the United States has not indicated that it is willing to negotiate", she confirmed.
Several European sources deplored what appears to be President Donald Trump's "signature" tactic, where tariff sanctions would come as a systematic precondition for negotiation.
New customs duties could therefore hit European imports very quickly.
Transatlantic trade relations will therefore most likely suffer from a further tariff escalation, as the European Commission has warned that, in turn (in about six months' time), it will also increase its tariffs on the basis of its own list (see EUROPE 12238/1).
"I sincerely hope we don't have to use it", the Liberal Commissioner insisted. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)