Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus reported on Friday that it had taken the final step in ending a long-running trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) between the European Union and the US. The dispute had been running for 16 years.
The issue was repayable launch investment (RLI) contracts awarded by some European countries for the Airbus A350 XWB airliner programme. The conditions of these contracts caused the US Trade Representative (USTR) to impose tariffs on a range of European exports to the US.
These tariffs, Airbus stated, had been harming all the targetted sectors, including American airlines. The situation had been further worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a result, Airbus and the governments of France and Spain had agreed to amend the RLI contracts these countries had awarded to the company for the A350 XWB. The amendments would bring these contracts into compliance with WTO approved interest rate and risk assessment benchmarks. (The principle of RLI had been previously approved by the WTO.)
“We have fully complied with all the WTO requirements,” affirmed Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. “These additional amendments to the A350 RLIs demonstrate that Airbus has left no stone unturned to find a way towards a solution.”
The group also stated that this move ended all justification for American tariffs. “This is a clear signal of support to those who are suffering from the severe impact of the tariffs imposed by the USTR, especially at a time when industries are hard hit by the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis,” he stated.