01.31.11

Cantwell: WTO Ruling Affirms EU Gave Airbus Unfair Subsidies

Ruling affirms that EADS/Airbus maintains unfair advantage over Boeing in Air Force tanker competition

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement on media reports that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has issued a final decision regarding the formal complaint filed in 2007 by the European Union (EU) against alleged U.S. government subsidies to Boeing.
 
“There is a stark contrast between the WTO’s ruling today and their ruling last year against the EU. Today, reports say the WTO upheld their interim ruling and dismissed over three-quarters of the EU’s allegations, identified most of it as associated with U.S. export tax policies repealed in 2004 and reiterated their finding that Boeing did not receive any existing prohibited subsidies. But last year, the WTO was unambiguous in ruling that Airbus had received an illegal subsidy of billions of dollars for aircraft-specific launch aid, including the airframe Airbus put forward as the basis for its tanker bid, and that that subsidy caused direct harm to the U.S. aerospace industry. This final ruling today confirms what we have been saying all along: It is EADS/Airbus that has benefitted from illegal subsidies relating to the Air Force tanker competition.”
 
###