The European Union and the United States have agreed to suspend tariffs in the long-standing Airbus-Boeing dispute, in a mark of goodwill to rebuild transatlantic relations.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said after remote talks with US President Joe Biden that both sides had “committed to focus on resolving our aircraft disputes, based on the work of our respective trade representatives”.
The suspension will last for an initial period of four months.
Ms von der Leyen called it “a very positive signal for our economic co-operation in the years to come”.
Glad to speak to @POTUS @JoeBiden this afternoon.
As a fresh start for our 🇪🇺🇺🇸 partnership we agreed to suspend all tariffs related to the Airbus-Boeing disputes on aircraft & non-aircraft products for an initial period of 4 months. We also committed to solving these disputes.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 5, 2021
“This is excellent news for businesses and industries on both sides of the Atlantic,” she said.
The EU is using the early months of the Biden administration to reset relations with the US after four years of acrimony under Donald Trump.
With the initiative to ease the aircraft fight that weighed on trade relations, the 27-nation bloc is seeking to rekindle the spirit of co-operation between Washington and Europe that has long defined global diplomacy.
Ms von der Leyen said she had invited Mr Biden to a global health summit in Rome on May 21 to streamline the fight against Covid-19, which has killed more than a million people in the EU and the US combined.
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