WTO issues final ruling

The U.S. won a long-running trade case challenging subsidies that European Union nations provided to Airbus to develop A350 and A380 jetliners, hurting Boeing sales. The final ruling Tuesday of the World Trade Organization means the United States can impose retaliatory sanctions. An appellate panel for the WTO affirmed a 2016 ruling that the EU had failed to eliminate unfair funding for two Airbus models. Later this year, the WTO is expected to issue a final ruling in a separate case in which the EU challenged billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Boeing. The next stage of the 14-year battle will be over the size of the tariffs the U.S. will be allowed to impose to compensate for lost exports. The Geneva-based WTO can’t force nations or companies to drop payments that violate trade rules, but it can authorize retaliatory measures to pressure governments into complying with its rulings. (Source: Multiple, including Bloomberg, Reuters via U.S. News and World Report, Seattle Times, 05/15/18) Gulf Coast note: Airbus has an A320 series jetliner manufacturing center in Mobile, Ala. Previous