The US and European authorities have agreed to temporarily end the trade war. They suspended all customs duties imposed in the Boeing-Airbus dispute. This is stated in the statement of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, published on the website of the European Commission.
According to her, the truce following negotiations with US President Joe Biden was announced for four months, it concerns both aviation and non-aviation goods. In addition, the parties expressed their readiness to resolve the dispute finally, which, the head of the European Commission notes, indicates a new stage of partnership.
The conflict between civil aircraft manufacturers, the largest in the history of all trade disputes in the world, lasted more than 15 years. It was started by Boeing – the company complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) about the preferences that the authorities of Germany, France, Great Britain and Spain provide to the rival. It was about soft loans for the development and production of new aircraft models, which Airbus received for decades.
A European company filed a counterclaim with similar charges, and its claims were $ 1 billion more. The first decision on the claims was made in 2011, both claims were recognized as justified, and the violations were found to have occurred. Nevertheless, protests and appeals dragged out the process until almost the end of the decade.
The final victory in its lawsuit allowed the United States to impose duties of 25 percent on a number of European goods in 2019. Among them were alcoholic beverages, food, clothing. Last November, the European Union responded with a similar decision after a verdict in the Boeing case.