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U.S. and EU in Talks on State Aid to Airbus and Boeing
U.S. and European trade representatives are discussing the 1992 bilateral accord covering state aid to Airbus and Boeing, but so far U.S. industry officials haven't heard how things are going.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy have been discussing the matter for a few weeks, according to John W. Douglass, president and CEO of the U.S. Aerospace Industries Assn. He said he might hear how things are going in a few weeks. Boeing has been raising the level of alarm about what it sees as an unfair "subsidy" advantage, with state aid covering one-third of the cost of developing aircraft like the Airbus A380. But Airbus has countered that Boeing benefits from U.S. Defense Dept. research and development spending.
Douglass said the Bush administration is looking at all sorts of initiatives that could improve the U.S. economy in the run-up to the presidential election, and these talks are part of that larger effort. But he said he doesn't expect things to move quickly enough to be resolved before November. When a "what if Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, is elected?" question came from the press, Douglass noted Kerry has always favored an open trade policy.
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