Today the Appellate Body, the final court of appeal at the WTO has definitively ruled that the US has continued to unlawfully subsidise aircraft manufacturer Boeing, causing significant harm to its European competitor Airbus.
The WTO's ruling in this 15 year-long dispute confirms that the United States has not complied with obligations to withdraw subsidies previously declared illegal by the WTO Appellate Body in 2012, adversely affecting the EU aerospace industry.
Following today's findings, the UK stands ready to work with the EU and the US to bring a sensible conclusion to this dispute.
International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:
We are committed to supporting jobs in the British aerospace industry and will now work to ensure that any negotiated settlement allows Airbus to compete on a level playing field with Boeing.
The UK is one of the strongest defenders of the global trading rules and has together with our European partners fully complied with WTO rulings regarding its support to Airbus. We will continue to work closely with the EU and European partners to contest the US's right to impose any tariffs on the UK and its partners.
We look forward to taking our independent seat at the WTO and will continue positive and productive conversations with both the US and EU to help bring an end to this dispute.
