Civil aircraft feature on EU's US countermeasures list

European regulators have listed large civil aircraft and helicopters among potential targets of trade countermeasures aimed at US exports, following the US govt’s plans to introduce tariffs on Airbus jets. The EC has opened a consultation on the measures, publishing an 11-page preliminary list of products which could fall under the new regime, featuring increased customs duties of up to 100%. It includes aircraft with an unladen weight above 15t as well as helicopters both above and below 2t. “The proposed action will only apply to new non-military aircraft,” the Commission has clarified in the list. The Commission is responding to proposed US govt tariffs on a range of products put forward in the context of a long-running transatlantic dispute over subsidies for large civil aircraft programmes. <br/>