Airbus/Boeing dispute: tariffs are the wrong answer

Following the release of the WTO’s ruling on Airbus subsidies today, BusinessEurope urges policymakers to reconsider the use of tariffs to settle the dispute related to the Airbus and Boeing case. Tariffs will not only hurt the aircraft industry and their suppliers, but will also have a negative impact on a variety of other sectors in the EU and the US.

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said: “Even if the US can legally impose tariffs on EU imports following the WTO ruling, tariffs will only increase trade tensions between the two major world trading blocks. Thousands of SMEs in the EU and the US stand directly in the line of fire and this will be a lose-lose situation. The EU and the US should instead use the ruling as an opportunity to engage in a positive agenda and set the rules on subsidies in the aircraft industry.

The beginning of a new institutional cycle in the EU is an excellent opportunity to reset the Transatlantic relationship. The EU-US relationship must be strengthened in the face of common market challenges. Tariffs will not only severely damage both of our economies, but they risk seriously undermining the strongest and most beneficial bilateral relationship in the world,” said Beyrer.