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2021.01.12 22:59 GMT+8

New U.S. tariffs hit French, German aircraft parts, wines

Updated 2021.01.12 22:59 GMT+8
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A barman pours a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau wine in a bistro in Paris, France, November 20, 2019. /Reuters

The U.S. government has begun collecting new duties on aircraft parts and other products from France and Germany after failing to resolve a 16-year dispute over aircraft subsidies with the European Union.

In a notice to shippers on Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the new duties would apply from Tuesday as part of the long-running battle over government subsidies to Europe's Airbus and its U.S. rival Boeing.

The notice follows an announcement by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that it would impose an additional 15 percent tariff on aircraft parts, including fuselage and wing assemblies, and a 25 percent duty on certain wines.

Talks between Washington and Brussels to end the battle stalled in the final weeks of the Trump administration, a European source familiar with the matter said. Washington had also pressed to reach a separate solution with Britain, which has a share in Airbus, but has exited the EU.

Brussels said it would seek swift resolution of the issue with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on January 20. The Biden team had no immediate comment on the tariff issue.

Both Washington and Brussels have won cases at the World Trade Organization, with the former allowed to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods and the latter extra duties on $4 billion worth of imports from the United States.

Airbus said USTR's expansion of tariffs to include aircraft components made in France and Germany was "counterproductive" and would wind up harming U.S. workers at its Mobile, Alabama site where it assembles A320 and A220 aircraft.

The measure will hit A320 production which uses components from France and Germany, while the A220 production does not, according to an Airbus spokesman. Airbus delivered more than 40 A320 Family planes from Mobile in 2020, but the number will be lower this year due to the pandemic, a spokesman said.

The Airbus A320neo (new engine option) takes off during its first flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, southwest France, September 25, 2014. /Reuters

The initial impact may be muted since aerospace companies generally procure large components, such as wings and fuselages, well in advance to ensure smooth production flows.

Aircraft were already covered by U.S. tariffs, but the addition of components closed a loophole that had allowed Airbus planes assembled in Mobile to be sold in the United States free of tariffs. Unless the issue is resolved quickly, those aircraft are likely to be uncompetitive in the U.S. market.

Some alcohol from the Airbus-producing nations – France, Germany, Spain and Britain – had already been subject to tariffs, but new varieties are now affected. The French wine exporters' federation called it a "sledgehammer" blow.

Unlike previous short-notice tariff actions, USTR did not grant any exclusions for products already in transit or "on the water," said Ben Aneff, president of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, calling the decision "deeply unfair."

Aneff urged U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a letter on Monday to amend the action to exempt goods in transit when the tariffs were announced less than two weeks ago on December 30, noting that ocean transit can take 22 to 40 days.

Aneff said the move would hit many U.S. businesses in the hospitality, restaurant and wine industry with sharply higher costs at a time when they were already being hammered by pandemic-related closures.

(With input from Reuters)

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