Boeing Subsidies Merit EU Tariffs on $4 Billion in U.S. Goods, WTO Rules

By Doug Cameron and Daniel Michaels

The World Trade Organization on Tuesday said the European Union may impose tariffs on $3.99 billion in Boeing Co. jets and other U.S. goods as part of a long-running trade dispute.

The ruling clears the way for the EU to respond to tariffs that the trade body last October authorized the U.S. to impose on $7.5 billion in Airbus SE jets and other imported European products. Washington in 2004 took European countries to the WTO over subsidies to Airbus, and Europe responded soon after with a case against U.S. support to Boeing.

WTO rulings since then have found that both sides provided prohibited subsidies, but Europe did so to a greater extent.

EU officials have recently said they hope to negotiate a settlement with Washington, so many observers expect Europe to refrain from levying tariffs quickly. The EU last year said it had prepared a preliminary list of U.S. products to target for retaliation, if necessary.

The U.S. Trade Representative and Boeing have said Tuesday's WTO ruling has no impact because the underlying violation -- a tax break in Washington state -- has been repealed.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com and Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2020 10:26 ET (14:26 GMT)

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