USTR Greer Warns EU That $3.4 Billion EIB Loan to Airbus Threatens Aircraft Trade Truce

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warned the European Union on Monday that a record $3.4 billion European Investment Bank loan to Airbus threatens the transatlantic trade truce, including the deal on financing large civil aircraft projects. Greer said his office has received no details about the June loan despite "ongoing requests," adding that the situation "injects substantial uncertainty into transatlantic trade in the aerospace sector." Boeing asked the U.S. government in July to press for transparency, amid speculation Airbus would use the funds to develop a new model. The U.S. and EU fought a 17-year WTO battle over alleged aircraft subsidies before agreeing to a five-year truce in 2021 that forestalled mutual tariffs on some $11.5 billion worth of trade. The truce was extended in July after the EU parliament approved a broader trade deal. A key question is whether the loan terms constitute a subsidy, as the WTO has previously found. The EIB said it is "a normal loan, carrying interest." Airbus CFO Thomas Toepfer said it was taken "completely at market level."