Airbus chief calls for tariffs on Boeing exports
US President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on the European aviation sector in 2019 after the World Trade Organization ruled that the EU had illegally subsidised Airbus. (Airbus pic)
PARIS : The head of Airbus said today that Europe should impose tariffs on imports of Boeing aircraft if negotiations over US President Donald Trump's trade war fail.
Trump has rolled out a 'baseline' levy of 10% on goods from around the world, but he has suspended a higher tariff of 20% on EU products while the two sides negotiate.
If negotiations 'do not result in a positive outcome, I imagine that there will be – and that's what we wish – reciprocal tariffs on airplanes to force a higher level of negotiation', Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury told AFP.
Faury, who was speaking at a press event by French aerospace industry association Gifas, said any response should be similar to the strategy used in a previous spat during the first Trump administration.
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on the European aviation sector in 2019 after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the EU had illegally subsidised Airbus, and raised it to 15% in 2020.
The WTO later ruled that the US also provided illegal aid to Boeing.
The EU then imposed a 15% tariff on Boeing planes.
The tariffs were subsequently lifted under president Joe Biden in 2021.
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