USTR Listened to Milk, Fertilizer, Ferroalloy Interests in Shaping Airbus Retaliation
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has added $4 billion in European imports to its list of possible retaliatory tariffs for Airbus subsidies, and is inviting interested parties to comment at a hearing or in writing on the 89 tariff subheadings. The U.S. has now identified $25 billion in potential retaliatory tariffs. The newly proposed products include yogurt, butter, cheese, meat, whiskey, olives, fertilizers and metals, and the USTR said the new list was shaped by requests by American producers at the first public hearing (see 1905150038).
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The level of retaliation permitted will be determined by a World Trade Organization arbitrator, and USTR said that if that decision comes before the hearing Aug. 5, the U.S. may immediately impose increased duties on products from the first list.
A spokeswoman for the European Commission in the U.S. noted that the volume of products the U.S. has identified is based on U.S. internal estimates of damages, and the WTO arbitrator may decide differently. She said that the EU is also identifying products related to its subsidy dispute against Boeing, so it will be ready when the arbitrator rules.
Damage to Boeing's business is what the arbitrator is trying to quantify. A Boeing spokesman said: "This case has been going on for 15 years and there have been multiple rulings by the World Trade Organization against the illegal government subsidization of Airbus. Because Airbus has refused to end its egregious use of subsidies, the WTO has authorized the United States Government to impose large-scale tariffs on the importation of European goods in a bid to persuade Airbus and the European Union to comply with its rulings."
An Airbus spokesman in the U.S. told International Trade Today: "While this most recent development adds to the trade tensions, it doesn’t change anything. ... The current situation is not creating a healthy environment for working towards a negotiated solutions, and risks creating a lose-lose situation for industries on both sides of the Atlantic."