WTO to certify Airbus subsidies removal

GENEVA (Reuters) – The European Union has asked the World Trade Organization to certify that it has complied with WTO rulings on its subsidies for planemaker Airbus, attempting to forestall billions of dollars of U.S. sanctions, a document published by the WTO showed yesterday.

The legal move is the latest step in a 14-year-old trade dispute between the EU and the United States over funding for Airbus (AIR.PA) and its US rival Boeing. (BA.N)

In May the WTO appeals body ruled that the EU had failed to remove subsidized government development loans for the world’s largest airliner, the A380, and Europe’s newest long-haul jet, the A350, causing losses for Boeing BA.N and US aerospace workers.

That opened the way for US retaliatory trade sanctions, subject only to a decision by a WTO arbitrator about how big those sanctions should be, which is still pending.

Boeing says Airbus received illegal aid worth $22 billion, including $18 billion in loans from governments. Of these, $9 billion is involved in the outstanding A350 and A380 claims.

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