Deal unlikely in Airbus-Boeing spat: US official

The United States and the European Union are unlikely to negotiate a settlement to a dispute over subsidies for aircraft rivals Boeing and Airbus, US trade officials told reporters on Friday.
The dispute is potentially the biggest ever to go before the World Trade Organisation. Each side accuses the other of showering billions of dollars on their aerospace giant.
While Washington remains open to a negotiated settlement, "we haven't made the progress we've been looking for, which is why we've been pushing forward with the WTO case." a US trade official said during a telephone briefing on the US Trade Representative's annual foreign trade barriers report
Jim Mendenhall, general counsel in the US Trade Representative's office, started the phone call with a set of on-the-record remarks. But several other US trade officials who spoke during the briefing did so on the condition they not be individually identified.
The United States and the EU filed tit-for-tat cases at the World Trade Organisation over government support for Boeing and Airbus in May 2005. Since then, both sides have professed their desire for a negotiated settlement without any notable movement toward that.
The US trade official told reporters he doubted that situation would change. "I suspect you'll continue to see the case moving forward," he said.
The United States filed its case because it believes European government "launch aid" loans to help Airbus develop new aircraft violate WTO rules. In its counter complaint, the EU charged that Boeing benefits from a number of indirect subsidies ranging from state tax breaks to government research and development contracts.
US Trade Representative Rob Portman told reporters on Thursday that the United States was waiting to hear from the EU on any proposals it had for a negotiated settlement.
"We are perfectly willing to put everything on the table and have a discussion about this, but it must include the removal of launch aid. That's been our consistent position from the beginning, but at this point they're not prepared to have that discussion," Portman said.