Boeing 767-3Q8ER EI-DBG 24746 Transaero Airlines Airbus A319-114 VP-BTS 1164 Sibir Airlines S7
Boeing spent years pushing U.S. administrations to pursue (largely legitimate) trade sanctions against Airbus at the WTO. These cases largely went in favor of the U.S. with the WTO ruling that Airbus had received government subsidies, considered illegal under WTO rules. Before these cases could be settled, potentially causing major problems for U.S.-European relations, comes a new ruling by the WTO, this time against Boeing.
As The Economist reports that Boeing also violated WTO rules by receiving government subsidies “mainly channeled through the Department of Defense and NASA.”
I imagine this will eventually lead to a settlement between the two companies that will prevent countervailing import duties from being imposed by either side. I think Airbus has probably taken much more substantial handouts from the European movements that created them, which in turn has allowed them to grow so quickly into the true competitor of Boeing. But, in the end: So What? The competition will be good for Boeing, and consumers. And the alternative, potentially a trade war on a massive scale, that would prevail if the U.S. was allowed to impose tariffs to recoup the loss of billions, is just not worth it for anyone.
These ruling against Airbus and now Boeing, hopefully will just make the whole mess go away.
