U.S., EU are putting tariffs on hold
The United States and the European Union agreed to temporarily suspend tariffs levied on billions of dollars of each others’ aircraft, wine, food and other products as both sides try to find a negotiated settlement to a longrunning dispute over the world’s two leading airplane manufacturers.
President Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, agreed in a phone call Friday to suspend all tariffs imposed in the dispute over subsidies given to Boeing and Airbus for “an initial period of four months,” von der Leyen said in a statement.
“This is excellent news for businesses and industries on both sides of the Atlantic, and a very positive signal for our economic cooperation in the years to come,” she said.
In a statement, the White House said Biden had “underscored his support for the European Union and his commitment to repair and revitalize the U.S.-EU partnership.”
The World Trade Organization had authorized the U.S. and Europe to impose tariffs on each other as part of two parallel disputes, which began almost two decades ago, over subsidies the governments have given to Airbus and Boeing. The EU had imposed tariffs on roughly $4 billion of American products, while the U.S. levied tariffs on $7.5 billion of European goods.
The aircraft dispute is an early test of the Biden administration’s ability to rebuild ties with Europe.
President Donald Trump took a more adversarial and aggressive stance toward the bloc, accusing it of cheating the U.S. The Biden administration has said it would restore ties and has committed to pressing Europe for a settlement on the aircraft dispute as well as other ongoing trade spats.
“Finally, we are emerging from the trade war between the United States and Europe, which created only losers,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Twitter. He added that a burden would be lifted for French winegrowers, whose sales have been pummeled by steep retaliatory tariffs that the Trump administration imposed.
The Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group representing the liquor industry, called the decision a “a promising breakthrough in the long-standing trade dispute on civil aircraft subsidies, which has left much destruction to the spirits sector in its wake.”