import taxes that President Donald Trump
imposed on European steel and aluminum, a
move that infuriated some of America’s closet
allies three years ago.
For now, the truce in the Boeing-Airbus dispute
goes a long way toward repairing a huge
commercial relationship — $933 billion in two-
way trade last year despite the pandemic — that
came under enormous strain during the Trump
years. Among other things, the former president
angrily charged the Europeans with using
unfair trade practices to sell more products
to the United States than they bought and of
shirking their responsibility to pay for their own
national defense.
No trade dispute between the two sides has
raged longer than their aviation conflict. Since
2004, the U.S. and the EU have accused each
other of unfairly subsidizing their aircraft-
building giants — America’s Boeing and Europe’s
Airbus. Over the past two years, the World Trade
Organization, which adjudicates such disputes,
declared both sides guilty. It allowed the United
States to impose up to $7.5 billion in tariffs and
the EU up to $4 billion’ worth.
The tit-for-tat duties victimized companies that
have nothing to do with aircraft production,
from French winemakers and German cookie
bakers in Europe to spirits producers in the
United States, among many others. The
agreement brought a measure of relief to
companies on both sides of the Atlantic.
“For about 20 years, we have been at each
other’s throat,” U.S. Trade Representative
Katherine Tai said. “We have been too busy
fighting each other.’’