VDMA and ZVEI call for negotiated settlement for Airbus-Boeing dispute

• Existing and possible further retaliatory tariffs could worsen economic crisis

VDMA and ZVEI once again call on the EU and the USA to engage in constructive dialogue in order to find a negotiated solution that will finally put an end to the dispute over the Airbus-Boeing case and regulate state aid for the civil aviation industry in principle.

The U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has initiated consultations in the Airbus case with a possible increase of retaliatory tariffs on products already covered and the extension of such tariffs to other products. "This could result in further burdens for the EU economy," urges Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the ZVEI Management Board. Many sectors not involved in the original trade dispute are already affected by retaliatory tariffs – in Germany, for example, the electrical industry in the field of power tools and mechanical engineering industry with certain excavators. A consensually negotiated settlement is therefore urgently needed.

Although these punitive tariffs on European products in response to Airbus subsidies comply with the rules of the World Trade Organisation, the economy is in one of the worst crises due to the current Covid 19 pandemic. "The already existing retaliatory tariffs and those that may be added could make the situation even worse," criticises Thilo Brodtmann, General Manager of the VDMA. In the current situation, however, the transatlantic trade relations need to relax, not to escalate.