US, EU reach deal to end 17-year Airbus-Boeing trade dispute

Both sides agree to extend suspension of tariffs for five years

The US and the European Union agreed to extend a tariff truce for five years, parking a dispute over aircraft subsidies given to Airbus SE and Boeing that saw the allies impose duties on $11.5 billion of each other’s exports.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, speaking to reporters in Brussels on Tuesday, said the tariffs would remain suspended as long as the terms of the agreement are upheld and while they work on addressing issues including outstanding subsidies already paid. “I'm very positive and convinced that together we will deliver today,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Tuesday, hours before a meeting in Brussels with US President Joe Biden.

 

“Today’s announcement resolves a long standing trade irritant in the US-EU relationship,” Tai said. 

“We have also with the EU agreed to clear statements on acceptable support for large civil aircraft producers and a cooperative process to address that support between our two parties.” The European Commission spent Monday night discussing the accord with member states to get the deal over the line before an EU-US summit in Brussels with President Joe Biden, according to EU officials familiar with the deliberations. The allies will also vow to end a separate dispute over steel and aluminum, in a sign of progress in resetting the relationship.

A person familiar with the discussions said that the US and EU officials have reached principles of an agreement to end their over 17-year dispute over the aircraft subsidies. 

With inputs from Associated Press

Kremlin: Deals at Putin-Biden summit unlikely but talks useful
 
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva on Wednesday is unlikely to yield concrete deals but the talks will still be useful, a Kremlin aide said.
 
The leaders will meet for the first time since Biden became president as the bilateral relationship stands at the lowest point in years.
 
Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters that the agenda - apart form the final communiques - was confirmed in his phone call with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday.
 
Nuclear stability, climate change, cybersecurity and the fate of US and Russian nationals who are in prison in each other's countries would be on the agenda, the Kremlin aide said. "I'm not sure that any agreements will be reached. I look at this meeting with practical optimism," Ushakov told reporters in comments cleared for publication on Tuesday.  Reuters