May 18,2011

Baucus Comment on WTO Airbus Ruling

MEMORANDUM

To: Reporters and Editors
From: Scott Mulhauser and Erin Shields for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Re: Baucus Comment on WTO decision on U.S. Airbus case

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today commented on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body’s ruling that subsidies provided by the European Union (EU) to Airbus distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules.

“To continue to strengthen economic growth, we have to ensure the U.S. is on a level playing field, and that means making sure our trading partners are living by the rules,”Baucus said. “We have to use every tool we have to protect American workers, ranchers and farmers, and that’s what we’ve done with this case. This ruling cracks down on illegal trade subsidies that cost American jobs and helps ensure a global economy where U.S. workers can compete and win.”

The Appellate Body affirmed an earlier WTO panel ruling that aid had been used to support the creation of every model of large civil aircraft produced by Airbus. The Appellate Body also affirmed that launch aid and the other challenged subsidies to Airbus have significantly distorted the global market for large civil aircraft, and that those subsidies have directly resulted in Boeing losing sales and market share.

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