Saturday, September
5, 2009, 9:37pm MDT

Washington state officials react to WTO-Boeing decision
New Mexico Business Weekly

Washington state officials are reacting enthusiastically upon hearing reports that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has issued an interim ruling that European countries provided Airbus with illegal subsidies.

They said the decision could place Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) on a fair and equally competitive footing with the European plane builder, which U.S. officials said was receiving illegal subsidies from the European Union.

“Boeing makes a competitive product but the market was being distorted by subsidies to Airbus,” according to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D.-Wash. “U.S. companies like Boeing can compete and win on in the global marketplace as long as everybody plays by the rules and the playing field is level,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Mercer Island, said that if preliminary reports regarding the WTO decision, which U.S. trade officials has treated as confidential, Boeing workers will benefit.

“Today’s World Trade Organization decision confirms what we have long known — that billions of dollars in European ‘launch aid’ subsidies have given Airbus a grossly unfair competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This decision is a well-deserved victory for Boeing and America’s aerospace workers, who have continued to innovate and drive the global economy even as they faced a deck stacked squarely against them,” Reichert said in a statement.

Press reports indicate that U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Tacoma, has been briefed by U.S. trade officials on the confidential decision and that it clearly indicates that the WTO has confirmed the European Union provided the illegal subsidies.

The decision was cheered by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

“This ruling confirms that Boeing has been competing on an uneven playing field for decades. Launch aid has meant that Boeing has been forced to compete not only with Airbus, but also with the treasuries of the European governments that support them. It is a market distortion that has cost American jobs and cannot be allowed to continue,” Murray said in a statement.

Boeing conducts business operations in New Mexico.



Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)



Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/08/31/daily61.html