Le Maire Sees Airbus, Boeing Spat Compromise Possible in Weeks
Le Maire Sees Airbus, Boeing Spat Compromise Possible in Weeks
(Bloomberg) -- French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the European Union and the U.S. can reach a compromise soon in the long-running dispute on subsidies to aircraft makers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
“I think there is a possibility to build an agreement between the U.S. and Europe on this Airbus-Boeing case,” he said in an interview on CNN International Friday. “I do not underestimate the difficulties of bridging the gap between the positions of the U.S. and the EU, but I can tell you that we will not spare our efforts to build a compromise in this Boeing-Airbus case, in the interests of both the U.S. and Europe.”
Brussels this month agreed to put new tariffs on $4 billion of U.S. imports, a move taken with the blessing of the World Trade Organization after the EU won a case in Geneva against illegal subsidies to Chicago-based Boeing. It was a counter-punch after the U.S., in a parallel filing against Toulouse, France-based Airbus, was allowed to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in goods from nations including France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.
Le Maire called the election of Joe Biden as the next U.S. president a “positive one,” adding that the trans-Atlantic relationship needs “a new start.”
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