WTO backs US on Airbus complaint
WASHINGTON - In a victory for Boeing Co., the World Trade Organization sided with the American aviation giant yesterday in finding that European countries have provided billions in illegal subsidies to chief competitor Airbus.
The preliminary ruling by the Geneva-based WTO, although expected to be challenged by the European Union, could begin to shake up the $3.2 trillion global market in new jetliners, in which Airbus has overtaken Boeing. The next shoe to drop will be a decision that may well go the other way: The international trade body will rule next year in an Airbus challenge to what it sees as unfair US government support for Boeing.
Yesterday’s decision confirms a complaint by the United States, filed in 2004, that “all Airbus aircraft have received illegal subsidies and that these have caused material harm to Boeing,’’ said Representative Norm Dicks, Democrat of Washington, among those briefed by US trade officials on the yet-to-be released decision. Another Washington state lawmaker, Democratic Representative Jim McDermott, said, “We learned in a WTO ruling that Airbus has enjoyed an unfair competitive advantage over Team Boeing for decades.’’
However, European officials who were briefed had a somewhat different take on the ruling, suggesting many of the complaints lodged by the United States had been dismissed.
