BRUSSELS — EU countries voted on Thursday to keep on ice the bloc’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States in the long-running Airbus-Boeing dispute, two EU diplomats told POLITICO.
The move, first reported by POLITICO, comes as Brussels seeks to avoid reigniting a transatlantic trade war at a time when tensions between the EU and the U.S. have been easing. Just this week the European Union gave its final green light to the trade deal it struck with President Donald Trump last year.
Thursday’s vote prolongs the suspension of the EU’s retaliatory tariffs — affecting $4 billion in imports of U.S. goods such as aircraft, tobacco and spirits. These were imposed in 2020 at the height of the transatlantic dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing.
For almost two decades, the European Union and the United States accused each other of illegally subsidizing Airbus and Boeing. After years of litigation the World Trade Organization found that both sides had broken the rules, paving the way for retaliatory tariffs affecting $11.5 billion in bilateral trade.
A truce struck in 2021 between the European Commission and the Biden administration has kept the dispute in abeyance ever since. It was due to expire on July 11.
The duration of the new suspension is still being negotiated between Washington and Brussels, an EU official said.