EU sees U.S. restraint on tariffs

Trade representative announces ‘modest’ changes to list

The U.S. left largely intact its list of European products worth $7.5 billion targeted with tariffs because of illegal Airbus subsidies, opting not to follow through on a threat to substantially increase the economic pain on its trans-Atlantic trade partners.

In a statement in Washington on Wednesday, the U.S. trade representative’s office said it was making “modest” changes to the list of products subject to tariffs, while leaving the overall amount of goods unchanged. The U.S. didn’t carry out a threat to increase the tariff rate to 100% from the current 15% and 25% levels, nor did it expand the list of products to include $3.1 billion of new goods.

The European Union, which handles trade matters for the 27-nation bloc, said the restraint could pave the way for a broader agreement to put the long-running aircraft conflict behind them.

The EU “acknowledges the U.S. decision not to exacerbate the ongoing aircraft dispute by increasing tariffs on European products,” according to a European Commission post on Twitter. “Both sides should now build on this decision and intensify their efforts to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing trade irritants.”

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in the statement the U.S. is “committed to obtaining a long-term resolution to this dispute.”

Lighthizer added that he would start a new process with the EU to reach an agreement. The EU’s top trade negotiator, Phil Hogan, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that the bloc would “intensify our efforts with the U.S. to find a negotiated solution.”

The announcement said it would remove from the tariff list certain products from Greece and the U.K., and add an equivalent amount of trade from France and Germany. Sweet biscuits like British shortbread were exempted in the latest review, and Britain’s gin industry was spared higher tariffs. But duties on another big U.K. spirits industry remained.

French wine exporters have been among the hardest-hit industries.

The Trump administration won a long-awaited judgment from the World Trade Organization in October stemming from a dispute between Airbus and Boeing that dragged on for more than 15 years. The ruling authorized tariffs on a record $7.5 billion in European imports.

The EU, meanwhile, is waiting for a World Trade Organization decision to come as early as September that may allow for retaliation against the U.S.

Brussels has asked for its own multibillion-dollar award in a separate case that found Chicago-based Boeing received illegal subsidies.

(AP) An Airbus A350 performs at the Paris Air Show in this file photo. The European plane-maker says it is working to end litigation with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization.