Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/425 suspending commercial policy measures concerning certain products from the United States of America

Summary:

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/425 - adopted by the European Commission on 9 March 2021 - introducing a suspension of commercial policy measures concerning a number of products from the United States of America (USA).

Further information:

This Act was adopted following an agreement between the European Union (EU) and the USA leading the suspension for a four-month period of all retaliatory tariffs imposed as a result of the Airbus-Boeing disputes. These measures had been introduced in the EU by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1646.

The dispute between the two sides over aircraft subsidies goes back nearly two decades. In 2018, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the EU had illegally provided support to Airbus, clearing the way for the USA to respond with tariffs in October 2019. In March 2019, the WTO ruled in a parallel case that the support provided by the USA to Being had also violated trade rules, authorising the EU to introduce its own tariffs against US exports in October 2020. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1646 was adopted in November 2020 in the absence of an agreement to avoid tariffs on both sides.

This suspension was interpreted as an opportunity to focus on resolving the long-running dispute and also as a fresh start in the bilateral relations. This Implementing Regulation was published in the Official Journal on 11 March 2021.

• Primary Source

News

CNN Business, 05/03/2021: US and EU agree to suspend tariffs linked to long-running Boeing-Airbus dispute https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/05/economy/boeing-airbus-tariffs-suspend-us-eu/index.html

Bloomberg, 05/03/2021: U.S., EU Agree to Suspend Tariffs in Boeing-Airbus Dispute https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/u-s-eu-agree-to-suspend-11-5-billion-of-tariffs-in-plane-spat

Euronews, 05/03/2021: EU and US agree to suspend tariffs over Airbus-Boeing dispute https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/05/eu-and-us-agree-to-suspend-tariffs-over-airbus-boeing-dispute

Times of Malta, 05/03/2021: US, EU agree to suspend Airbus-Boeing tariffs https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/us-eu-agree-to-suspend-airbus-boeing-tariffs.856105

Politico, 05/03/2021: US and EU suspend Airbus-Boeing tariffs for four months https://www.politico.eu/article/us-and-eu-suspend-airbus-boeing-tariffs-for-four-months/

BBC News, 06/03/2021: US and EU suspend tariffs in Boeing Airbus row https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56296499

---

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 05/03/2021: EU and U.S. agree to suspend all tariffs linked to the Airbus and Boeing disputes https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_1047

European Commission: DG Trade: Joint Statement of the European Union and the United States on the Large Civil Aircraft WTO Disputes (5 March 2021) https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2021/march/tradoc_159458.pdf

US White House: Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (5 March 2021) https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/05/readout-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-call-with-european-commission-president-ursula-von-der-leyen/

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Press Release, 05/03/2021: EU and US agree four-month suspension of mutual sanctions in Airbus-Boeing dispute https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/economic-diplomacy-foreign-trade/news/article/press-release-eu-and-us-agree-four-month-suspension-of-mutual-sanctions-in

---