WTO gives US official green light to impose tariffs on EU goods

The United States has now received formal authorisation from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to impose tariffs on up to $7.5-billion (€6.79-billion) of imported good from the European Union. The move came following an arbitrator's decision over subsidies to Airbus.

The body responsible for settling disputes at the WTO, made up of representatives from its 164 member states, gave Washington the go-ahead to take countermeasures against the EU and countries that produce Airbus; France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

The authorisation itself was a formality following the decision earlier this month by the WTO arbitrator which awarded a right to retaliate over illegal subsidies. 

Dennis Shea, the US Trade Ambassador, told the meeting, which lasted less than 20 minutes, that Washington's preference was still a negotiated solution.

“But that can only happen if the EU genuinely terminates the benefits to Airbus from current subsidies and ensures that subsidies to Airbus cannot be revived under another name or another mechanism,” he told the meeting.

The EU delegation told the meeting that it had "serious concerns" and that the tariffs imposed by the US were short-sighted.

In cases that have dragged on for 15 years, the WTO found that both Airbus and its trans-Atlantic rival Boeing had received illegal subsidies amounted to billions of dollars. It is expected that a decision regarding the Boeing case will come early 2020.

The US said that it intends to impose 10% tariffs on Airbus planes and 25% duties on a variety of different products including Scottish whisky, French wine and cheeses from across Europe.

Last Friday, EU Trade Chief Cecila Malmström wrote to her US counterpart Robert Lighthizer urging him to begin negotiations to find a settlement to the Airbus-Boeing dispute, arguing that resorting to tariffs was not the answer.

“It would only inflict damage on businesses and put at risk jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, harm global trade and the broader aviation industry at a sensitive time,” she wrote in a letter as reported by Reuters.

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