The U.S. and the E.U. will suspend tariffs related to the civil aircraft disputes for five years, according to a statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative. This is part of a cooperative framework to help address the disputes.
“After years of bitter litigation and weeks of intense diplomacy, we have reached a deal on a set of high-level principles that resets U.S.-EU engagement in the large civil aircraft industry,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai, in a statement. “We are strongest when we work with our friends and allies, and the partnership with European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis is a demonstration of that principle in action.”
“Our goal was clear – to forge a new, cooperative relationship in this sector so that our companies and our workers can compete on a more level playing field,” continued Tai. “The agreement includes a commitment for concrete, joint collaboration to confront the threat from China’s non-market practices, and it creates a model we can build on for other challenges.”
In addition to the suspension of countermeasures (such as tariffs) for a period of 5 years, the framework is made up of seven other general principles, which include establishing working groups that will meet at least every six months to analyze and overcome any disagreements and jointly analyzing and addressing non-market practices of third parties that may harm their respective large civil aircraft industries.
Related: USTR to Discuss EU Aircraft Tariff Disputes; Legislation Introduced to Establish USTR Oversight.