The EU has scored a victory over the US in a long-running trade dispute after the World Trade Organization ruled that Washington had failed to comply with an order to halt tax breaks to Boeing that hurt European competitor Airbus.
The WTO’s appeals body on Thursday upheld a finding that the US had not enforced an order in 2012 to stop subsidies to the US aircraft maker through Washington state tax breaks. The undue competitive advantage led to lost sales of Airbus’ A320neo and A320ceo single-aisle aircraft in five sales campaigns.
Under WTO rules, the ruling paves the way for the EU to request the right to impose tariffs on US goods. The size of a potential retaliation would have to be based on trade losses under the five aircraft sales campaigns.