BRUSSELS – The European Union and United States have agreed to prolong a truce in their 17-year Airbus-Boeing row for five years, marking a diplomatic victory during the visit of US President Joe Biden here, said European sources today.
“We have found a good agreement that gives us the time to find a long-term solution,” a source close to the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Biden will meet EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council president Charles Michel here, and solving a list of existing trade conflicts will be at the top of the agenda.
Asked whether there will be a breakthrough in the meetings with Washington, von der Leyen said she is “very positive that we will find an agreement on the Airbus-Boeing issue today”.
“We should not underestimate that this is the longest trade dispute in the history of WTO (World Trade Organisation), so it’s in our common interest to solve it,” she told reporters.
“I’m very positive and convinced that together, we will deliver today.”
The EU and US have been at loggerheads for almost two decades in the conflict over their aircraft manufacturers.
A source close to the matter said the truce will last for five years, providing enough time to find a global solution at WTO involving the aviation industry worldwide.
The two sides accuse each other of illegally subsidising Airbus and Boeing, their aviation champions. In early March, both parties declared a ceasefire of sorts for four months after Biden took office.
They refrained from imposing further punitive tariffs on each other until July 11 to negotiate a solution to the dispute. – AFP, June 15, 2021
