Thu, Mar 25, 2010
U.S. Planemaker Urges Airbus, European Governments To "Change
Course"
Boeing has fired the latest shot in the word skirmish over the
WTO decision concerning European government subsidies for
Airbus. The statement below was issued following news
reports quoting officials who indicated that the United States has
prevailed on all of the major issues in the WTO's final decision,
which reaffirms its earlier interim decision, in the U.S. case
against European subsidies to Airbus:
"This is a powerful, landmark judgment
and good news for aerospace workers across America who for decades
have had to compete against a heavily subsidized Airbus. U.S.
officials have estimated the commercial value to Airbus of all the
government launch aid subsidies it has received at more than $178
billion (in 2006 dollars). Government subsidies have been used to
support the creation of every Airbus product, including the
A330/A340, which received more than $5 billion in development aid,
and the A380, which received $4 billion in subsidies. Those and
other European government subsidies to Airbus have significantly
distorted the global market for large commercial airplanes, causing
adverse effect to Boeing and costing America tens of thousands of
high-tech jobs.
"We appreciate the strong bipartisan
efforts by both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S.
government to right this wrong and ensure that America's aerospace
workers get a fair shake. Because of the U.S. government's
undiminished resolve to end illegal subsidies, this decision should
level the competitive playing field once and for all with Airbus,
as well as set an important precedent for other nations with
aspirations to enter the commercial airplane business.
"Airbus and its sponsor governments continue to re-affirm their
commitment to using subsidized launch aid to fund the next Airbus
airplane, the A350. We urge them to change course and fully comply
with the WTO's clear ruling. The WTO panel has painstakingly and
professionally reviewed all of the evidence that's been presented
the past four years. It is extremely important to international
trade and global economic growth that governments and businesses
abide by the WTO's rules. Markets, not parliaments, should pick the
winners in the global aerospace industry."
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