The European Union has failed to scrap subsidies to French-based airplane builder Airbus SAS after the World Trade Organization ruled against such practices, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Friday, DPA repored.
The trade representative said an EU notification made December 1 that claimed to fully comply with the ruling "appears to show that the EU has not withdrawn the subsidies in question" and has "granted new subsidies to Airbus' development and production of large civil aircraft."
The US trade office requested that the EU enter into talks to solve the dispute and requested authorization from the WTO to impose counter measures in the range of 7 billion dollars to 10 billion dollars in response to the EU's claim that it fully complied with the WTO's ruling.
While the WTO has no authority to force countries or companies to halt aid it rules to be illegal, it can authorize sanctions for failure to comply with rulings.
The WTO ruled in 2010 that EU countries including France, Britain, France and Germany provided illegal subsidies to Airbus, such as loans, infrastructure support and other infusions that had a negative impact on US aeronautics giant Boeing Co.
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