Statements by the United States at the Meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body
Geneva, October 14, 2019
- EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND CERTAIN MEMBER STATES –MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN LARGE CIVIL AIRCRAFT
A. RECOURSE BY THE UNITED STATES TO ARTICLE 7.9 OF THE SCM AGREEMENT AND ARTICLE 22.7 OF THE DSU (WT/DS316/42)
- The Arbitrator in this matter has released its decision as to the level of countermeasures commensurate with the adverse effects caused by the subsidies of the EU, including its member States Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, to large civil aircraft. That figure is nearly $7.5 billion each year.
- The level determined by the Arbitrator is larger by far than the largest amount previously awarded by a WTO arbitrator, and documents the point that we have been making all along – that the EU’s subsidies to Airbus have for decades caused massive harm to the U.S. economy.
- Accordingly, the United States has requested DSB authorization to impose countermeasures under Article 7.9 of the SCM Agreement and Article 22.7 of the DSU consistent with the award.
- It is the U.S. preference to find a negotiated outcome with the EU that ends all WTO- inconsistent subsidies. That has been our objective from the outset. But that can only happen if the EU genuinely terminates the benefits to Airbus from current subsidies and ensures that subsidies to Airbus cannot be revived under another name or another mechanism.
- For 15 years, the United States has indicated its desire for such an agreement. During this period, there have been no countermeasures, and the EU has consistently failed to engage in serious discussions.
- We hope the countermeasures will encourage the EU to agree to a genuine cessation of its WTO-inconsistent subsidies and the adverse effects that flow from them.
- Accordingly, the United States has now requested authorization to impose countermeasures.