U.S.: WTO says Boeing got fewer subsidies than Airbus

GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization has ruled that Chicago-based Boeing received far fewer illegal government subsidies than its European arch-rival Airbus over more than a quarter-century, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Monday.

Mr. Kirk called the ruling “a tremendous victory for American manufacturers and workers” after a WTO appeals panel determined there were $5 billion in U.S. subsidies for Boeing. Mr. Kirk said that’s “far below” the $18 billion in European Union subsidies for Airbus.

The WTO appellate panel found that illegal U.S. subsidies for Boeing cost Airbus 118 aircraft sales, Mr. Kirk said. By comparison, the EU subsidies for Airbus cost Boeing 342 aircraft sales.

The release of the WTO ruling was imminent, but both the U.S. and the EU already have claimed victory in the long-running trade spat.