Boeing says Airbus could still avoid tariffs by obeying WTO

LONDON: Boeing Co on Wednesday urged Airbus to comply with World Trade Organization rulings on European subsidies to avoid U.S. sanctions that would hurt not only the planemaker but also the wider European economy.

“Europe is facing tariffs today because Airbus has refused for years to comply with WTO rulings,” Boeing said in a statement.

“Yet even today, Airbus could still completely avoid these tariffs by coming into full compliance with its obligations. We hope it will finally do that.”

The European Union has launched a process at the WTO aiming to show that it has complied with earlier rulings on Airbus, but WTO arbiters refused in a report published on Wednesday to force Washington to await the outcome of this before imposing tariffs.

Airbus earlier called for talks to ease the long-running two-part dispute over subsidies to both Airbus and Boeing.