The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the US President, Joe Biden, agreed to suspend the customs duties imposed in the Airbus/Boeing dispute on Friday 5 March.
“We are both committed to resolving this dispute based on the work of our trade representatives. This is excellent news for companies on both sides of the Atlantic and a positive signal for economic cooperation in the years to come”, said the President of the Commission.
This suspension concerns all products subject to customs duties in the context of the Airbus/Boeing dispute, for a period of 4 months. In the meantime, the European and American administrations will try to find a lasting solution.
“The step is a huge alleviation for all producers of those European spirits that were negatively affected by tariffs in the past sixteen months and whose exports have fallen drastically as a result”, said Ulrich Adam, CEO of SpiritsEurope.
For its part, the manufacturer Airbus is naturally delighted with this decision. “Airbus supports all necessary actions to create a level-playing field”, a company spokesman told EUROPE.
In the European Parliament, the news was welcomed by all political factions. This is a hopeful sign for the chairman of the European Parliament Trade Committee (INTA), Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany): “All support from INTA Committee to come to a solution soon”, he said.
INTA Committee vice-chair Anna-Michele Asimakopoulou (EPP, Greece) also welcomed “excellent news for Greek producers”. Questioned by EUROPE, the MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe, France) welcomed the joint work of the European Commission, the EU Council and the Parliament to push for this suspension. “I would note that the EU has really always been at the table. Joe Biden has taken a step, it will have to be a long-lasting one”.
Global relations with the United States. Ursula von der Leyen also indicated that she had addressed EU-US relations more broadly. She announced that she had invited the US President to the World Health Summit in Rome on 21 May.
On the climate issue, she welcomed the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement and indicated that she would receive the Presidential envoy for the climate, John Kerry, at the next meeting of the College.
The President of the Commission reformulated the European proposal for a partnership “rooted in our shared values and principles” with the United States. In this context, she referred to the European desire to create an EU-US Council for Trade and Technology, which was mentioned in December in the joint communication from the EU Council and the Commission on the future EU-US relationship (see EUROPE 12614/4). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)