SAN FRANCISCO: The United States has warned that a multibillion-dollar European loan to aircraft manufacturer Airbus could jeopardise a longstanding tariff truce with the European Union, raising concerns about renewed transatlantic trade tensions.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that Washington had received no details about the €3 billion ($3.4 billion) financing approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in June.
Greer urged European authorities to resolve the matter promptly, questioning whether the loan amounted to unfair government support for Airbus.
“I had sincerely hoped that trade-distorting European subsidies to Airbus were a thing of the past,” he said.
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He warned that the financing had introduced uncertainty into aerospace trade relations between Washington and Brussels.
Record Financing Raises Concerns
The EIB announced the record financing package in June to support Airbus research, development and innovation across commercial aviation, security and defence.
EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle said at the time that the unprecedented funding would provide Airbus with greater flexibility for long-term technological investment.
Longstanding Trade Dispute
The warning threatens to reopen a dispute dating back to 2004, when Washington and Brussels accused each other of providing unfair subsidies to rival aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus.
The disagreement resulted in retaliatory tariffs affecting billions of dollars in goods traded across the Atlantic.
In 2021, both sides agreed to suspend the tariffs for five years under former US President Joe Biden.
Neither side has reinstated the measures since the agreement.
Greer’s warning now raises questions about whether the Airbus financing could undermine that fragile trade understanding.
