The European Commission listed $20 billion worth of U.S. imports on Wednesday that it could hit with tariffs relating to a long-running dispute with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization over aviation industry subsidies.
Earlier this month, the U.S. threatened $11 billion in tariffs against EU aerospace products for its subsidies to Airbus.
The commission said it was considering fish, ketchup, tobacco, luggage, aircraft, tractors, and video game consoles for the levies. “The EU remains open for discussions with the U.S., provided these are without preconditions and aim at a fair outcome,” EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.
The U.S. and EU have been involved in a running dispute since 2004 over whether their respective aerospace industry policies towards Airbus and Boeing amount to unfair practices. The WTO said last month that the U.S. had failed to eliminate subsidies for Boeing. The alleged subsidy was a $100 million tax break given to Boeing by Washington state, not a federal government policy. Last year, the WTO found that the EU had been providing illegal subsidies to Airbus, which the U.S. estimated at $11 billion.
WTO arbitrators have yet to set an amount in either case. A final ruling by the WTO in the Airbus case could come by the summer. A ruling in the Boeing one isn’t expected until next year.
The U.S. and EU have tentative plans to meet this year to resolve trade differences, but the talks have yet to be scheduled and are bogged down over what issues will be discussed. The U.S. wants agricultural subsidies to be up for negotiation, but EU officials have repeatedly ruled that out.
