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The European Union says it has complied with a World Trade Organization ruling that called on it to end illegal subsidies to Airbus.
The case is part of a long running trade tiff with US, which claims that an estimated $18 billion in government aid for the European aircraft maker unfairly hurts Boeing. The US said it would study the submission by the EU, which did not publicly elaborate on how it would comply with the WTO ruling.
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The EU has filed its own counter-case against the US over aid to Boeing, which the WTO is expected to rule on next year.
“The United States will be in the same position as we are today,” a spokesman for the EU trade office told the Associated Press. “At that point the EU expects to receive an equally solid set of compliance actions from the United States.”
In a statement, Airbus said it was committed to full compliance with the WTO ruling. It said the trade body’s decision, which upheld the basic legality of government partnerships with Airbus, was a “victory for Europe,” and called on Boeing to “live up to previous rhetoric on WTO compliance.” However, Airbus said reports on tax subsidies for Boeing under consideration in the US suggest that the American aerospace giant “will continue to flaunt the rules of the game.”
In its own statement, Boeing said it would work with US trade representatives to ensure that the EU and Airbus have fully complied with the WTO.
“We expect Airbus and its government sponsors to demonstrate that the practice of market-distoring launch aid — the most pernicious form of subsidy Airbus was found to have received — has ended,” Boeing said.
