Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it won’t consider revisions to tariffs imposed of European products in the World Trade Organization dispute involving large civil aircraft subsidies.
USTR noted that it had just revised the tariffs in January and, therefore, said no further action is necessary now.
National Association of Beverage Importers (NABI) said it is appreciative of the USTR decision not to increase and expand the financial damages suffered by importers of wine and distilled spirits (and the threatened tariffs on beer) who are in no way connected with this aerospace trade dispute. The move was expected given the trade policy of the Biden/Harris Administration which seeks to rebuild trust and confidence with the traditional trading partners and allies of the United States. Any increase in the Airbus tariffs would have negated that clear message.
“In other words, the glass is half empty. USTR and the Biden/Harris Administration could and should have done more to signal optimism from a glass being half full,” NABI said.
Robert M. Tobiassen, president, called the move “a missed opportunity to present a conciliatory signal, particularly in response to the European Commission’s offer of a six-month mutual suspension of the Airbus and Boeing tariffs.”
USTR had “the options of repealing the January additional tariffed products or agreeing with the EU for a mutual six-month suspension of the Airbus and Boeing tariffs with the added ask of a suspension by the EU of the doubling of the Steel and Aluminum retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU.
“A suspension is not a repeal so domestic interests on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean would realize the Biden/Harris Administration and European Commission are not rolling back their WTO approved trade sanctions,” he said.
Addition of an EU suspension of the doubling of the tariffs helps to equalize the large civil aircraft suspension of $7.5 billion in volume of trade in the Airbus case compared to the approximately $4.0 billion in volume of trade in the Boeing case. “Building trust and confidence is a step-by-step process,” said Tobiassen, “and these small steps would build goodwill thereby creating a more positive feeling during settlement negotiations.”
USTR said the “affected industries” had agreed to the move. But it didn’t consult with the bev/al industry. “My members ask why does USTR not care about us as an ‘affected industry’ and let the aerospace industry decided whether we should continue to be devasted? The only link between aircraft and beverage alcohol is the fact you can purchase a drink on your flight,” Tobiassen said.