WTO says U.S. failed to halt state tax subsidy for Boeing

Reuters, Geneva/Paris, 28 March 2019) The World Trade Organization said on Thursday the United States had ignored its request to halt a subsidized tax break for Boeing Co in its main plane-making state of Washington as a 15-year-old transatlantic trade row edges towards tit-for-tat sanctions. The European Union said the WTO appeal ruling had vindicated its claims that Boeing continued to receive illegal subsidies, but the United States said only one measure, a Washington state tax break worth around $100 million annually, had been found still to violate the rules. A 2018 ruling by the WTO already found that the EU was also failing to stop its own illegal subsidies for Europe's Airbus. Washington has since claimed an unspecified amount in damages and a WTO mediator is still examining this claim. The "Bank of Boeing" is what critics sneeringly call the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal agency that provides low-cost loan guarantees that help companies, including Boeing, expand and compete internationally.