EU threatens to tax $20 billion of US goods over Boeing aid

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has drawn up a list of $20 billion worth of U.S. products it could tax in an escalating feud over plane industry subsidies, the EU’s executive commission said Wednesday.

The commission said the EU could tax the products, which range from aircraft parts to frozen fish, from early next year in retaliation for U.S. financial support to Boeing that it says hurt Europe’s Airbus.

The extent of the EU punitive duties will depend on a ruling by the World Trade Organization.

Earlier in this dispute, the EU sought permission to target $12 billion worth of U.S. products. Businesses and stakeholders have through May to give feedback on the proposed EU tariffs.

The move comes days after the U.S. said it was preparing tariffs on $11 billion worth of EU traded goods to offset EU subsidies for Airbus that hurt Boeing. 

That list of hundreds of goods includes European planes, wines, cheeses and olive oil.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the EU wants to avoid “tit-for-tat” action in the long-running dispute and that the world’s biggest trading bloc “remains open for discussions with the U.S., provided these are without preconditions and aim at a fair outcome.”

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