PARIS: The head of European planemaker Airbus called on Saturday for a “ceasefire” in a transatlantic trade war over aircraft subsidies, saying tit-for-tat tariffs on planes and other goods had aggravated damage from the COVID-19 crisis.
Washington progressively imposed import duties of 15 percent on Airbus jets from 2019 after a protracted dispute at the World Trade Organization, and the EU responded with matching tariffs on Boeing jets yr later. Wine, whisky, and other goods are also affected.
“This dispute, which is now an old dispute, has put us in a lose-lose situation,” Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury stated in a radio interview.
“We have ended up in a situation where wisdom would usually dictate that we have a ceasefire and resolve this conflict,” he informed France Inter.
Boeing was not immediately available for comment.
Brazil, which has waged separate battles with Canada over subsidies for smaller regional jets, on Thursday dropped its own complaint towards Ottawa and known for a global peace deal between producing nations on support for aerospace.
Faury stated the dispute with Boeing was particularly damaging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has badly hit air travel and led to travel restrictions or border closures. He expressed particular concern about widening bans within Europe.
“The priority no. 1 for nations normally is to reopen frontiers and permit individuals to travel on the basis of tests and then finally vaccinations.”
The comments come as companies improve stress on governments to reopen economies as coronavirus vaccine roll-outs collect tempo throughout Europe.
France has defended recently introduced border restrictions, saying they will assist the government to avoid a new lockdown and stay in force till at least the end of February.
Germany installed border controls with the Czech Republic and Austria last Sunday, drawing protest from Austria and concerns about supply-chain disruptions.
Berlin calls the move a temporary measure of last resort.
Poland stated on Saturday it had not ruled out imposing restrictions on the nation’s borders with Slovakia and the Czech Republic due to rising COVID-19 cases.
