Aircraft
WTO Finds Certain Boeing 777X Tax Breaks Illegal
Ruling applauded by both Airbus and Boeing

In the latest chapter of a 12-year-old trade dispute over allegedly anti-competitive government funding of civil aircraft, the World Trade Organization on Monday ruled that tax breaks given to Boeing for the 777X program constitutes and illegal subsidy subject to sanction. The ruling, issued by a WTO panel requested by the European Union in February last year, concludes that tax measures to which the EU objected constitute an illegal subsidy. As expected, Airbus applauded the ruling, calling the tax incentives granted by Washington state large enough to fund the entire development of the 777X and worth $50 billion in lost sales to Airbus.