EU given OK to put tariffs on$ 4billionof U. S. goods

World Trade Organization penalty cites illegal support for Boeing.

GENEVA— International arbitrators said Tuesday the European Union can impose tariffs and other penalties on up to $ 4 billionworth of U. S. goods and services over illegal American support for plane maker Boeing. The move further sours transatlantic ties at a time when the coronavirus has doused trade and savaged economies.

The ruling by theWorld Trade Organization arbitrators, which could inflame Trump administration criticism of the Genevabased body, amounts to one of the largest penalties handed down by the WTO.

It comes a year after another ruling authorizedtheUnitedStates to slap penalties on EU goods worth up to $ 7.5 billion — including Gouda cheese, single- malt whiskey and French wine — over the bloc’s support for Boeing rival Airbus.

The latest decision is final, cannot be appealed, and puts the final word on a standoff dating back to 2006. It is just one part of a string of long- running disputes between the two plane- making giants at the WTO. And it sets the stage forwhat could become intense negotiation between the EU and U. S. to end what could become tit- for- tat transatlantic sanctions.

The arbitrators were tasked with setting a dollar value in sanctions such as tariffs that the EU could impose after the WTO’s appellate body found last year that Boeing had received at least $ 5 billion in subsidies that were prohibited under international trade rules. The United States had argued that the illegal support merited no more than $ 412 million in penalties, while the European bloc countered that they deserved nearly $ 8.6 billion. The award in essence was nearly 10 times more than what the U. S. had claimed, and under half what the EU wanted.

The EU had argued that tax breaks from Washington state for Boeing, which was once headquarteredinSeattleandhasmajor manufacturing operations in the state, unfairly harmed Airbus jets. The U. S. argues that those tax breaks ended this year, eliminating any basis for the award.

LINDSEYWASSON/ THE NEWYORK TIMES TheWorld TradeOrganization gave the European Union permission to impose tariffs on $ 4 billionworth of American products in retaliation for illegal subsidies to Boeing.