US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warned the European Union on Monday that a record-breaking loan to Airbus from the European Investment Bank threatens a delicate transatlantic trade truce, including a deal on financing large civil aircraft (LCA) projects. In a statement, Greer expressed frustration that despite "ongoing requests," his office has received no details about the $3.4 billion loan made in June from the EIB, the EU's official lending arm. Boeing had asked the US government in July to press for transparency on the loan, which came amid speculation that Airbus would use the funds to develop a new aircraft model.
"This situation injects substantial uncertainty into transatlantic trade in the aerospace sector," Greer said. "It is important this situation is resolved as soon as possible to ensure market-driven production in the aerospace sector and to avoid violation of the terms of our hard-won LCA deal." The US and EU fought a protracted 17-year battle over alleged aircraft subsidies at the World Trade Organization before agreeing to a five-year truce in 2021 that forestalled mutual tariffs on some $11.5 billion worth of trade, and the truce was extended in July after the EU parliament approved a broader US trade deal. A key question for USTR is whether the terms of the EIB loan would be considered a subsidy for Airbus, as the WTO has found in the past on such loans, while the EIB said in July that it finances thousands of companies every year and denied offering Airbus any unusual support.