US trade representative Jamieson Greer has warned that the European Investment Bank’s record-breaking $3.4bn loan to aerospace group Airbus could jeopardize the transatlantic trade truce agreed between Washington and Brussels.
Greer accused the EIB of failing to share details about the June loan, despite ongoing requests, and expressed concern that the funding could introduce market distortions in violation of the 2021 US-EU aircraft subsidy deal that ended one of the developed world’s longest-running trade disputes.
He said for decades France, Germany and Spain had aggressively supported Airbus to gain an unfair advantage over US aerospace workers. The 2021 agreement, struck under former president Joe Biden, was a five-year accord that neither side had reimposed tariffs on this past summer.
Airbus described the EIB loan as a standard corporate financing facility necessary to manage its global production system and supply chain, adding it was actively engaging with authorities and happy to share more information. Brussels is keen to tamp down trade tensions while diversifying supply chains and keeping the US engaged in Ukraine.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing