The Government of Spain welcomed the decision to suspend for five years all the tariffs that the United States and the European Union imposed on each other within the framework of the disputes raised in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the large civil aircraft sector, as announced by the European Commission (EC) during the EU-US Summit.
The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, stressed that “the agreement reached is a historic step to end the longest trade conflict within the WTO and to achieve the definitive elimination of tariffs that have affected the aeronautical industry and the Spanish agri-food industry. This will allow the Spanish export and investment operations in the US market to recover, which is key for our companies and for the recovery of the Spanish economy.”
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, said he welcomed the announcement as the tariffs unfairly taxed Spanish agri-food exports to the US, including olive oil, wine, cheese, and citrus fruits. "This great news. We are back on the path of multilateralism. A path that should never have been neglected. Dialogue, collaboration, and the search for consensus must prevail over unilateral actions that generate imbalances and unnecessary commercial conflicts.”
As part of the agreement, both parties agreed on a series of general principles that should guide mutual cooperation in the large civil aircraft sector. To do this, they will create a joint EU-US working group that allows a finding a friendly and collaborative resolution to any disagreement that may arise between the parties. Furthermore, this working group is entrusted with the task of further developing the principles and disciplines on which this mutual cooperation is based.
Finally, the agreement contains an annex on cooperation in relation to non-market economies, in order to promote collaboration between the US and the EU in the joint analysis and treatment of third-country non-commercial practices that may harm their respective large civil aircraft industries.
For more information:
Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo
www.mincotur.gob.es