国际英语资讯:U.S. threatens to impose tariffs on EU products over aircraft subsidy dispute_时事

国际英语资讯:U.S. threatens to impose tariffs on EU products over aircraft subsidy dispute

Lighthizer said the Trump administration "is preparing to respond immediately when the WTO issues its finding on the value of U.S. countermeasures." The result of the WTO arbitration is expected to come out in this summer.

An EU official was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the 11-billion-dollar figure "is based on US internal estimates that have not been awarded by the WTO" and is "greatly exaggerated."

"The EU will request the WTO-appointed arbitrator to determine the EU's retaliation rights," the official said. "The commission is starting preparations so that the EU can promptly take action based on the arbitrator's decision."

Washington and Brussels have locked themselves in a grueling dispute settlement process at the WTO since 2004, featuring tit-for-tat appeals and counter-appeals against each other.

As the United States accuses the EU of subsidizing Airbus and the EU challenges the United States for illegally aiding Boeing Co, both sides claimed partial victory along the way.

In March 2017, the WTO ruled that at least 5 billion dollars' worth of U.S. subsidies to Boeing were illegal, notifying the United States to scrap them.

In June 2017, the WTO agreed with the EU in a ruling saying that the United States had not fully complied with the 2017 request asking it to remove the subsidies, citing the case of Washington state's tax breaks.

The USTR said a WTO appellate report in May 2018 found that "EU subsidies to high-value, twin-aisle aircraft have caused serious prejudice to U.S. interests," and that the EU's launching aid to Airbus' A350 XWB and A380 caused "significant" lost sales and lost market to Boeing.