Let The Many Months Of Heated Negotiations Begin!

The United States and the European Union reached something of a consensus last week in their battle over trade subsidies, by agreeing to name a senior Mexican trade official to gather information on alleged financial support by the respective powers to aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing.

According to an Associated Press story, Mateo Diego-Fernandez was named to oversee the task of collecting data on markets and companies involved in the Airbus/Boeing subsidies dispute from other members of the World Trade Organization.

"We are confident that the procedures which we have agreed upon will allow both the [EU] and the U.S. to prepare properly in each dispute toward a resolution of both disputes," European Union representatives told the WTO's dispute-settlement body.

The World Trade Organization set up legal panels two months ago to investigate allegations by both the US and the EU, each claiming the other was unfairly funding development for its respective aircraft manufacturers.

While the WTO aims to settle the dispute, allegations continue to, well, fly between the two sides. As was reported in Aero-News, a trade representative from the United States last week told Britain in no uncertain terms that loaning Airbus $680 million for the development of its new A350 -- seen as a direct competitor to Boeing's 787 -- would be "a step in the wrong direction."

When the announcement of a neutral auditor was named, the US said it was pleased the EU "is finally willing" to allow the negotiation process to begin -- while also reaffirming that Washington had been trying to get to that point for more than two months.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.airbus.com, www.wto.org