WTO panel: EU fails to end illegal subsidies for Airbus

A WTO panel ruled Monday that the EU has not complied with an order to end illegal subsidies for plane-maker Airbus, which prompted the Trump administration to impose tariffs on nearly $7.5b worth of EU goods in October. In its ruling, a WTO compliance panel found that the EU had not taken sufficient steps to end harm to Boeing, the major rival to Europe’s Airbus. The EU is expected to appeal, though the United States is on the cusp of preventing the WTO’s appeals court — the Appellate Body — from ruling on any new appeals. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday welcomed the WTO ruling. “Strong action is needed to convince the EU that its interests lie in eliminating these market-distorting subsidies now and in the future, so that our industries can compete on a level playing field,’’ Lighthizer said. Responding to Monday’s ruling, the EU’s executive commission faulted the panel for making a “number of serious legal errors in its assessment of EU compliance,” and said its recommended ways of compliance would be “very problematic for a larger part of the WTO membership.” “The European Commission will decide on its course of action in light of this assessment, including the possibility of bringing an appeal in order to have these legal errors corrected,” it said. <br/>