THE US trade representative is hitting out at reports of European launch aid to help Airbus produce its new part-Deeside built A350 airliner, and said it would take steps to ensure no harm was done to the US airliner industry.
The representative’s office also said that disputes involving Boeing and Airbus at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were separate and should not be linked.
USTR said it was concerned about reports that European Union member states planned to provide launch aid to Airbus for production of the A350, a long-range, wide-body aircraft to compete with American company Boeing’s 777 and 787 airplanes.
The UK Government announced last year that it was giving £340m in repayable launch aid for the A350 project which will safeguard at least 1,000 jobs at Airbus’s wing plant at Broughton, near Chester.
“This action is particularly regrettable in the light of the concerns we have raised in our WTO case against Airbus subsidies, and we will naturally take steps to help ensure that such financing does not cause harm to the US aircraft industry,” said the US trade representative’s office.
An initial report by the WTO in September found that European launch aid loans provided to Airbus were illegal subsidies under world trade rules.
