WTO ruling may impact Mobile

In a World Trade Organization ruling that may impact the Airbus operation in Mobile, Ala., Politico is reporting that the WTO ruled in favor of the U.S. in the dispute over Airbus subsidies. The confidential decision was sent to Brussels and Washington on Friday. It gives the United States the go-ahead to impose billions in punitive tariffs on EU products in retaliation for illegal subsidies granted to Europe's Airbus. President Trump will likely soon announce tariffs on European products ranging from cheeses to Airbus planes in an amount close to $10 billion, Politico reports. The U.S. can choose products from a previously compiled list and tax them at different rates to claw back the total amount of damage resulting from the EU subsidies. The list contains EU aircraft parts, a move that EU officials said was designed explicitly to disrupt the company's supply and manufacturing chain by depriving the company of the parts it needs for the final assembly of its A320 series in Mobile, Ala. The ruling is the culmination of a decades-long dispute on whether EU countries have illegally supported Airbus by granting subsidized loans known as “launch aid” for the development of the A350 and A380 models. The U.S. first filed the complaint in 2006. A parallel complaint by the EU, alleging illegal U.S. subsidies for Boeing, is also being examined by the WTO and a ruling is expected in about eight months.  (Source: Politico, 09/14/19)