For Washington, the only possible negotiated solution in the Airbus dispute can only be related to the termination of the subsidies granted to the European company, US ambassador Dennis Shea recalled at a special meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), on October 14 in Geneva.
At this meeting, WTO members officially gave their green light to the US request to impose additional custom tariffs on European products (see EUROPE 12339/13) as part of the dispute settlement over Airbus. These counter-measures, worth €6.8 billion ($7.5 billion) per year, are expected to come into force on 18 October (see EUROPE 12346/11).
"The EU must put an end to these subsidies"
US Ambassador to the WTO, Dennis Shea, took the opportunity to remind other WTO members that the United States has always preferred a negotiated solution with the EU, a Geneva official reported. "This has been our goal from the beginning", said Mr. Shea. However, according to the US ambassador, "that can only happen if the EU genuinely terminates the benefits to Airbus", and ensures that these subsidies "cannot be revived under another name or another mechanism".
At the meeting, the EU condemned certain elements of the arbitrator award, in particular the fact that it does not take into account recent developments such as Airbus' decision to discontinue production of its A380 aircraft. These shortcomings have led to a disproportionate level of countermeasures being allowed, the EU said.
A negotiated solution above all
"We are trying to prepare the Member States and give them all the information about it, but we will continue until the very last hour to push the Americans to try to see if we can find a settlement or at least sit down and talk and freeze tariffs for the moment", said EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, at a press conference on the same day.
"I recently wrote to Ambassador Robert Lighthizer to remind him that even if they (the United States) are allowed to impose these tariffs, it does not mean that they should do so. It would be much better to sit down and try to find a solution", she also pointed out.
However, if these custom duties are effectively applied, the EU and Member States will need to discuss the next steps ahead of the WTO decision in the dispute over the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, Malmström (see EUROPE 12339/10) conceded.
The subject was also on the agenda of the meeting of agriculture ministers on the same day in Luxembourg. The French Minister, Didier Guillaume, considered the American sanctions, particularly in the wine sector, "unacceptable". He asked the Commission for "a strong response to help this sector because it would not be acceptable to leave the wine or cheese sectors" in this situation. He spoke in favour of strong support for wine producers. At the time of going to press, the Agriculture Council was still debating this subject. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel with Lionel Changeur)